Let’s Answer That.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of being a notary public is why documents are notarized. I hear so many people say things that show that they don’t know what it’s about or what it means. 

While the most common reason to have a document notarized is that it’s required by law or by the party that sent it to you, this begs the question of why? 

So, today I’d like to answer this question: 

What’s the Point of Getting a Document Notarized? 

A notary serves as an official witness that the right people signed the document and that they did so freely and willingly. 

Breaking that down, a notary does several things: 

• We verify the identity of each signer by whatever standards our state has set in place.

• We determine that each signer was coherent at the time that we met with them.

• We confirm that each signer did sign as their own free and willing act. This means no one pushed or threatened them to sign and they chose to sign because they understood the purpose that the document was intended to accomplish.

• If required by the body of the document or the notary certificate attached to it, we administer an oath or affirmation to each signer that the statements made in the document are true and/or that they will do what the document says.

• We conduct a verbal ceremony that actually asks each signer to acknowledge or swear/affirm to their signature on the document and all that entails.

• We certify (put in writing) the facts of what we have personally witnessed the signer do in relation to the document. This notary certificate is an essential element of every notarized document and is required before we can stamp or seal the document. When we sign the notary certificate, we are attesting to everything said in it and that we did each of the things mentioned in this list.

All of this serves one purpose: to raise the level of trust that everyone has in the signed document.

This trust helps to make the notarized document accepted by any person to whom it may be shown or sent. And that means that the notarized document will be able to accomplish the purpose for which it was written and signed. 

I hope this answers the question and that you now know what is the point of having a document notarized.