Can a notary sign on a different day?
This is a tricky question and a bit vague if you ask me. The date of a notarization corresponds to the date that the signer signs the notary journal (according to me). Some signers will sign for an acknowledged signature a minute, day, week, month, year, or decade before the notarization, and that is legal according to California notary law, and probably in most if not all other states. For Jurats, the signature must be made while personally appearing before a notary public. Oaths should ideally have an accompanying journal entry, however, there is no signature on a purely oral Oath (BTW… jurats are used with written statements that have an accompanying oath).
So, in all types of notary acts, the signer should ideally sign the notary journal, and the date and time when they sign the journal establishes the notarization date. Please keep in mind that a signing where the signer signs the document at 11:59pm and signs the notary journal at 12:01am the following day could be dated either day, but I prefer my golden rule of dating the notarization when the journal is signed.
The document date can be the date of the notarization or before, but is generally not after.
The signing date for an acknowledged signature can be the date of the acknowledgment or before, but never after
So, there are three dates that might concern the notary. It is a crime to backdate a notary certificate, but putting a previous date in the certificate wording. It is also a crime to post date the date in the certificate wording.
So, what does it really mean to ask, “Can a notary sign on a different day?”
If the notarization takes place on Monday, where the signer signs the document by Monday, and signs the journal on Monday, can the notary seal and stamp the certificate wording on Tuesday if the notary has possession of the document? This is not recommended, and is neglegence. However, if the signing was a late night signing on Monday, and you sign and affix your stamp to the document in your possession early Tuesday morning, that is still unacceptable, but sounds less unreasonable than letting it slide 24 or 48 hours!
So, the official answer to the above question is — NO! Sign the certificate within a minute or two of when the journal is signed if humanly possible.
You might also like:
Can you notarize a Birth Certificate?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2300
Can a notary perform a wedding?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=1891
The John and Sally question revisited
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20180
Document dates, signature dates, rescission dates and transaction dates
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20189
Which states allow e-notarizations?
What states allow e-notarizations or e-notaries?
The status of being an electronic notary is a very new and very misunderstood profession or office. To be an e-Notary, so you can do e-Notarizations, is often a completely different type of commission in many states. Another fact to understand is that e-Notarizations can not (or can not always) be done for Deeds or other documents that effect real property. The biggest issue that bothers notaries about e-Notarizations is that the signer doesn’t always have to appear before the notary to receive an e-Notarization. The first time a signer is notarized, they should appear before the notary, but in some states, the subsequent e-notarizations may or may not require physical presence.
e-Notarizations require the use of an electronic journal (ENJOA). The signature of the signer would go in that journal.
An e-signing is normally done with a physical journal and done in the presence of a notary public. The documents might be signed online, or at least most of them signed online. However, the signer woudl still appear before the notary public and sign a physical journal of notarial acts.
Here are the states that currently allow e-notarizations. The rules for e-Notarizations might be very different from state to state.
California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.