Do I Use an Acknowledgment or Jurat?

In order to notarize a document the document has to include the correct notarial wording. When a notary is asked to notarize a document without the correct wording then often times a loose leaf certificate is attached. The signer, not the notary, must choose which type of loose leaf certificate to attach, an acknowledgment or a jurat.

According to the 2008 CA Notary Handbook the acknowledgment is the form most completed by the notary and includes the following:

The certificate of acknowledgment must be in the form set forth in Civil Code section 1189. In the certificate of acknowledgment, the notary public certifies:

• That the signer personally appeared before the notary public on the date indicated in the county indicated.
• To the identity of the signer.
• That the signer acknowledged executing the document.
  

The jurat is the second most popular form and must contain:

• That the signer personally appeared before the notary public on the date indicated and in the county indicated.
• That the signer signed the document in the presence of the notary public.
• That the notary public administered the oath or affirmation.
• To the identity of the signer.

The jurat is identified by the wording “Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed)” contained in the form.

If a signer is confused as to which form to use I just explain to them the difference between the two forms and then let them make the choice. Unless the drafter of the document has any specific stipulations it does not matter which form you use as they are both notarizations.

Taking My Blog to the Next Level

I'm so excited! I finally transferred from the generic thedocdiva.blogspot.com to my personal domain www.mobilenotaryreview.com. I hope this helps communicate how serious I take my blog while increasing readership.

Thankfully Blogger makes the transfer easy by automatically forwarding old bookmarks to the new domain.

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Too Busy to Think Straight!

Today was one of "those" days... It started at 6:30 a.m. and did not end until 10 p.m. In total, I completed three loan signings, one non-loan notarization and spent 3 1/2 hours at the Tai Pei Consulate. Let's just say I'm pooped!

I traveled from Long Beach to San Pedro back to Long Beach to Los Angeles to Carson back to Long Beach to Cerritos back to Long Beach and then home. At the end of the day my odometer reading had increased by 118 miles!

I started the day knowing it was going to be busy but I just had not imagined my trip to Los Angeles would take so long. I have taken documents to be apostilled by the State of CA but I have never had to make a trip to a consulate office before so I was green to the process and the wait!

Even though I'm incredibly tired I would do it all over again. You can't beat the variety of this business.

I Passed My Notary Exam!

As I was explaining in my previous blog, I recently had to renew my notary commission. Well, yesterday I found out I passed with a score of 87!

With a test consisting of only 30 questions there isn't much room for error. Even though I am aware of the ends and outs being a notary, taking a test on the subject can be a little nerve racking.

Now I am off to get my fingerprints...

Cool Notary Gear

Are you a notary looking for an easy way to advertise yourself? Well, check out the notary items found at CafePress. I found some more cool stuff here.

I can't wait to place my order.

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