How to Complete a Notary Certificate

 




As a notary we are taught that we are non-attorneys in the state of North Carolina and therefore our focus is to ensure that all documentation presented to us has no blank spaces prior to us notarizing it. The only part of the document that we have full control of is "our certificate." In the example, an image of the acknowledgment certificate gives you the seven to eight essentials that certificate must include:

  1. The venue
  2. The name of the notary in the body text (may or may not be applicable)
  3. The name of principle signer(s) 
  4. The date of the notarization
  5. The notary's signature
  6. The notary's printed name
  7. The notary's expiration date
  8. The area where the notary's seal/stamp should appear
If any of the following things are not listed on the certificate, we can either add them or add a "loose certificate." In the example we must always enter the current city and state that we are in at the time of the notarization. If there's an area in the paragraph that has a blank line with Notary Public following you, the notary will enter your name in this space, this is not always on a certificate and isn't required for this area of the certificate. Sometimes, I have had documents presented to me that a signer has prefilled in their name in this portion and I have informed them that I, the notary, must be the one to complete this portion because it's my responsibility as I've identified them to enter the name that's on their satisfactory identification. If this happens to you and they have not entered the name the same way it appears on their identification, you may mark a thin line through the name, and then rewrite it as it is prinnted on their identification. 

As the notary, we are to sign the cerficate the way we have signed our signature when we applied to become a notary on the application that was sent to the Secretary of State. Your printed name needs to accompany the signature as well as your expiration date. Many times a document that is presented to you may not have the wording "My commission expires...," however, a notary public must enter it onto the certificate for it to be fully executed at the time you apply your stamp or seal. 

NC Notary Signing Services offers in-person workshops that covers various notary certificate hands on training once a quarter. We had a class of 23 registrants with a 20 person attendance with some notaries traveling a far as 3 hours away to be present. Preregistration is now opened.




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