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February 2, 2011

Interesting and uncommon notary acts

Filed under: (5) State specific,Notary Acts & Certificates,Popular Overall 2011 — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 8:30 am

Notary Acts
 
There are various types of notarial acts, and the rules and types of acts vary from state to state.  In this blog entry, I’ll go over all of the types of notary acts that I can find information about, and introduce some of the points that differ from state to state.  The states associated with each specific act are NOT necessarily the ONLY states associated with those acts, but are the state(s) that we are referencing.
 
Acknowledgment
An acknowledgment is the most common notary act and accounts for roughly 80% of all notarizations with Jurats being in second place.  Many states allow notaries to charge a maximum fee per notarized signature, while Florida’s fees are based on how many times you affix your stamp when executing an acknowledgment.
 
Affirmation
An affirmation is a type of Oath where there is no mention of a higher power (God).
 
Attesting to a Document’s Validity (AR)
This is a notary act that is peculiar to Arkansas.  I don’t recall seeing this as a possible notary act in any other state. Please visit our Arkansas Notary page for more information.
 
Authentication, Apostilles, and Magistracies (General)
These are general notary public procedures common to most states. However, less than 1% of notaries know how to do such notary acts, and you normally have to contact your state notary public division to learn the rules.  The process of getting one of these generally takes a minimum of a few days, and the price is usually high.
 
Certified Copies (WA)(CA)
Some states allow Certified copies of powers of attorney such as California.   Other states often allow a notary to make certified copies of any type of document.  New York doesn’t allow any type of certified copies. The type of documents that a notary may certify copies of vary from state to state.  Washington allows a notary to charge $10 per certified copy of any document for example.
 
Copies of Journal Entries
California notary law allows a small fee of 30 cents per entry for notaries to charge if a member of the public needs a copy of a specific journal entry.  The notary should be careful to make sure that all other transactions recorded in the journal do not show up on the photocopy sent to the individual making the inquiry to protect people’s privacy.
 
Depositions – Certifying Depositions (AR)
Most states use the term, “Take a deposition” while Arkansas allows notaries to certify a Deposition.  Some states allow a fee for the Deposition and then another fee for each oath to each witness.  Rules vary from state to state.
 
Document Copy Charges (CO)
Colorado notary law allows a notary to make copies of documents and charge for this act.  This act ensures that the copied document is a real copy and not a different document or one that is slightly altered.  If you are in another state that doesn’t have this type of notary act, its still advisable to witness the photocopying of documents that are to be certified as copies. Its also not a bad idea to make a notation on the document that you witnessed it being photocopied even though thats not an official act outside of Colorado that we are aware of.
 
e-Notarizations
Rules for e-notarizations differ from state to state.  The main point is to use an electronic journal to record transactions and for the documents to be online or electronic documents.  e-signings are signings where some of the documents are online while others are printed out.  A regular journal is used when doing an e-signing although the signature on the document is electronic.
 
Jurat
This is the second most popular notary act.  A Jurat requires the signer to sign the document before the notary and to take an Oath before the notary as well regarding the document or verbiage.  Several years ago, Jurats did not require identification in many states, but as of 2011, almost all states require the signer / affiant to be positively identified for this notary act.
 
Marine Protest (RI)
Rhode Island is the only state we have seen to have a separate fee for a marine Protest.  A Protest is an act where
someone Protests non-payment of a bill.  A Marine protest or sea protest is a statement where a captain or officer can include relevant details about the ship, voyage, cargo, drafts, date of departure, date of arrival in next port. This type of act is used if unfavorable weather conditions were encountered.  The Marine protest will protect the vessel and their owners from further claims brought forward by charterers, shippers, and cargo receivers.
 
Non-Certified Copies (VA)
Virginia allows for notaries to make copies that are not certified.  A non-certified copy if for information only and is not accepted for legal purposes such as school enrollment or applying for a drivers license or passport.
 
Oath
Most if not all states allow notaries to take Oaths.  An Oath is a solemn promise or statement where the affiant swears that they are telling the truth.
 
Photocopying & Supervising Photocopying (AR)
In Arkansas, a notary can get paid to photocopy documents or supervise the photocopy of documents. 
 
Proof of Execution
This notary act requires a subscribing witness who sees the principal sign a document.  The subscribing witness appears before the notary public.  This act is the only notary act where the actual signer doesn’t appear before the notary.
 
Protest
This type of notary act is where an individual protests the nonacceptance or non-payment of money owed.
 
Safe Deposit Openings (NY)
Here is a unique notary act only allowed in New York and Florida that we are aware of.  The notary must witness the opening of a safe deposit box and record the contents of the box in a certificate, but not in their journal.  Please click on the link to read the details.
 
Taking a Renunciation of dower or Inheritance (SC)
Please see the South Carolina notary division’s website for details on this unique notary act.
 
Verification – Taking a verification upon an Oath or Affirmation (DE)(PA)
Please consult the Delaware or Pennsylvania’s notary division website for more information on this unique act.
 
Weddings (ME), (SC), (FL)
Notaries in Maine, South Carolina, and Florida can solemnize weddings.  Notaries need to be familiar with the procedure and proper wedding etiquette to provide this type of service.
 
Witnessing an Absentee Ballot (FL)
Notaries are not allowed to charge for this notary act in Florida, or California. 
 
Witnessing or Attesting to a Signature (DE)
Attesting to a signature simply means witnessing a signature, and then signing your own name to document that fact that you witnessed a signature.  Delaware is one state of many that considers being a witness an official notary act.

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January 23, 2011

California Acknowledgment and Jurat Information

Filed under: California_Notary — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 1:55 am

To see current 2011 & 2012 California Acknowledgment wording  information and California Jurat verbiage  information, just visit:
http://www.123notary.com/California/acknowledgment_jurat.asp

California Acknowledgments & California Jurats

Notary laws are often based on antiquated social customs and laws.  Many notary laws in Louisiana are based on the old Spanish and French laws which make it extremely different from the rest of the United States.  Louisiana is sort of a foreign country controlled by our government.  The language is English, but the laws are not.  California notary law used to have some old rules too for identifying a signer. 
 
In olden times, people lived in smaller communities, traveled less, and had less access to the outside world.  In those days you knew your neighbors and knew them well.  California notary laws and laws in many states allowed a notary to use personal knowledge of an individual as a way to identify them for a notarization.  But, in 2011 with people flying all around, and nobody really knowing anyone, you can not really use personal knowledge as an identifying technique anymore.  People don’t even know their wives and children that well these days! After 9/11, the laws changed in many states.  It took a few years for the state governments to react, but standards for identification were raised.  You can still identify signers using credible witnesses which I feel is false identification. The credible witnesses don’t really usually know the signer that well, and have to be reminded of the signer’s name in many cases.  The most common form of identification is a driver’s license, state ID card, or password. 
 
In any case, California notary laws for identifying a signer for an acknowledged signature are tougher now that personal knowledge is not allowed.  But, signers also need to be identified for Jurats which never used to be the case.  In the last few years, the California notary wording or California notary Verbiage for Acknowledgment and Jurat forms has changed a little bit as well.
 
Oaths and Affirmations in California have now become a merged act.  You just choose whether you want it to be an affirmation or oath in the paperwork. 
 
 
You might also like: 

Notary Public 101 – basic notary acts including Acknowledgments
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19500

Notary Acknowledgment Information
 
Can a California notary be a witness?

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January 21, 2011

Notary Public Virginia e-notary Rules

Filed under: e-Notarization & e-Signings,Virginia Notary — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 7:41 am

Notary Public Virginia e-notary rules
http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/Notary/eNotary-faq.cfm

The information in this blog entry is based on information derived from the Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Notary Division website on the page indicated above.

Here are a few quick notes about Virginia e-notary rules
(1) Signers must personally appear before a Virginia e-notary to get an e-notarization.
(2) A separate registration or commission is necessary to be a Virginia e-notary, and the same exact name variation must be used on both commissions.
(3) There is no additional education required to become an e-notary in Virginia beyond the education required to become a conventional notary.  However, you are advised to be an expert on the Virginia notary handbook and to educate yourself and be trained in the electronic process of notarization. 
(4) There is a quick application form to become an e-notary in Virginia, and the form is on the Secretary of State’s website — use the link above.
(5) A Virginia electronic notary commission expires when your regular notary commission expires.
(6) The state of Virginia can produce electonic evidence that an e-notarization is authentic with a certificate of authority. Please see the official wording of this certificate near the bottom of this entry. There is a fee for this certificate as with any other authentication.
(6) The Virginia Notary Division (c/o Secretary of the Commonwealth) gives some of the most comprehensive information about being an e-notary of any of the states.  Once the e-seal is affixed to the electronic document, the document is rendered tamper evident as unauthorized attempts to alter a document will be evident and obvious to involved parties.  This statement is very interesting. Many of us fear the e-notarization process as we fear it might be less secure as we don’t understand it or feel accustomed to it. But, in reality, paper documents are easy to tamper with, while secure e-documents might not be so easy to tamper with.
 
The Virginia e-notarization process: step by step
(1) The signer signs their electronic signature on an electronic document, and then signs the notary’s e-journal. 
(2) The notary affixes their electonic seal and signature to the electronic document after it has been signed.  

Note: An e-signature might start with you logging in with a password, and then clicking a submit or accept button.  (Digital signature pads are also sometimes used – but weren’t mentioned in the information on the page we linked to above)
 
The future requirement of personal appearance
Personal appearance is currently required for e-notarizations, but the state says, “At present, yes” to this requirements and says, “not yet” for taking acknowledgments via audio/video conferencing which implies that one day personal appearance might not be required.
 
Certificate of Authority for an Electronic Notarial Act
I, __________________ (name and title), certify that _________________(name of electronic notary), the person named as Electronic Notary Public in the attached or associated electronic document, was commissioned as an Electronic Notary for the Commonwealth of Virginia and authorized to act as such at the time of the document’s electronic notarization.
 
To verify this Certificate of Authority for an Electronic Notarial Act, I have included herewith my electronic signature this ______ day of ___________, 2011
 
(Electronic signature and seal of commissioning official)

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January 7, 2011

California Acknowledgment Wording Explained

Filed under: California_Notary — Tags: , — admin @ 7:59 am

California Acknowledgment Wording Explained

The most common notary act in the United States is the Acknowledgment. Acknowledged signatures represent roughly 80% of notary acts; with Jurats comprising of most of the remainder.

Here is some sample California Acknowledgment Wording.

State of _____________
County of ____________

On _________ before me, ________________________________________,
(name of notary public )
personally appeared _____________________________________________
who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s)
whose name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument and who acknowledged
to me that he/she/they executed the same in their authorized capacity(ies),
and by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s), or entity
upon behalf of which the person(s) acted, executed the instrument.

I certify under PENALTY of PERJURY under the laws of the state of California
that the foregoing paragraph is true and correct.

WITNESS my hand and official seal.

____________________________
(Signature of Notary)

Please note that the top section of the certificate wording is called the venue which consists of a documentation of the state and the county. Next comes the body of the acknowledgment certification which documents the date, the name of the notary, the name of the signer who personally appeared before the notary, the fact that the signer was identified properly (they use the term satisfactory evidence to mean that the signer had ID, or was identified through the use of credible witnesses).

The most critical part of the California Acknowledgment Verbiage is that the signer acknowledges subscribing to the within instrument. This simply means that the signer claims that they signed the document. They could have signed hours, months, or years before seeing the notary — and it doesn’t matter so long as they appear before the notary to “acknowledge” that they signed the document. Additionally, the signer must sign the California Notary Journal as well.

Witness my hand and official seal is confusing California Acknowledgment verbiage. A seal, in notary verbiage, could refer to a signature or an official notary stamp (confusing). The notary must sign and affix his/her/its notary seal to the California Acknowledgment Certificate. Please note that the stamp may not be placed over any signatures or wording otherwise it voids the seal.

Please also note that there are lots of (s), is/are, he/she/they, within the text. The notary is expected (many do not do this though) to cross out the inappropriate text near the forward slashes. If you are doing a notarization for a single man, then cross out the she and they and (s) in name, unless he has more than one name being used in the notarization (which would be an interesting case).

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December 5, 2010

Arizona Notary Laws vs. Other States

Filed under: Other States — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 9:22 am

Arizona notary law and laws that vary from state to state. 
It’s difficult to post about notary procedure on Twitter and Facebook.  No matter how universal a notary law seems, it can differ across state boundaries and the interpretation can differ among individuals too.
 
Credible witnesses
Arizona notary law specifies the term, “Credible person” , which is a way of saying credible identifying witness.  In Arizona, one credible witness who knows the notary as well as knowing the signer may be used to identify the signer.  Different states have different rules for credible witnesses. 90% of states allow them, but some states allow two witnesses who the notary doesn’t know, while others allow only one. California allows one CW if the notary knows them OR two if the notary doesn’t know them.
 
Foreign language signers
An Arizona notary must be able to communicate directly with the signer. Many other states have this same rule.  But, there are a few states where an interpreter may be used between the notary and the signer. 
 
Marriages?
There are a few states where notaries can get a special credential such as Justice of the Peace and perform marriages.  An Arizona notary public unfortunately can not perform a marriage — at least not one that would be legally binding. So, forever hold your peace!
 
Appear before?
In Arizona’s electronic notary rules for electric notaries (which is a separate office from a regular Arizona notary), there USED TO BE conditions where the  signer can be notarized without appearing before the notary for that particular signature.  Read our blog about Arizona electronic signatures for details.  This rule has been changed and signers must appear before the notary according to

Click here
 
Arizona Notary Bond?
Arizona notary bonds must only be for $5000.  Most other states require a larger bond than that.  In California, the bond must be $15,000 for example.
 
Seals and journals
An Arizona notary must use a seal and journal.  This seems fairly elementary, but many states do not require the use of both a seal and a journal. 
 
Marriage or adoption?
Arizona notary law prohibits notarizing for anyone who you are married to or related to by adoption.
 
Legal advice?
An Arizona notary public should not give legal advice and not prepare documents for clients.  Some states prohibit the preparation of legal documents only, while AZ prohibits the preparation of any document. The prohibition of notaries from giving legal advice is standard across the board though.
 
Term
An Arizona notary commission’s term is four years.   A four year term is very common, although the number of years can really vary from state to state.

Please visit our Arizona Notary page!

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November 27, 2010

9/11 California Notary Law Changes

Filed under: California_Notary — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 2:01 am

California Notary Law Changes 
Notary law has changed tremendously in the last few years across the nation, but the single most important event that shaped notary law was 9/11.  It took several years for the various state notary divisions to react and change their notary laws after this catastrophe, but they surely did.  Several of the terrorists were easily able to get fraudulent social security cards and drivers licenses.  The hijackers paid $100 to an illegal immigrant who had also fraudulently gotten his Virginia driver’s license — to execute the residency affidavit for the 9/11 hijackers before a Virginia notary public.  This notarized document from Virginia was sufficient proof to get a Virginia driver’s license which they needed to get on the airplanes.  The Virginia notary public involved in this transaction was prosecuted by homeland security.
 
After that incident, it was found that tens of thousands of fake Virginia identification cards and driver’s licenses were circulating, and Virginia made law changes as a reaction.  Notarized documents were no longer sufficient proof to get a driver’s license.  Virginia was not the only state to react to this catastrophe.  The California notary division, and many others reacted too.  Law changes started happeneing slowly, generally in 2005 and 2006.
 
Some of the main changes to California notary law were that personal knowledge of a signer was no longer grounds for personal knowledge.  California notaries also are responsible to make sure the document being notarized is not fraudulent.  Jurats now require being positively identified in California and almost every other state in the nation.  There are other laws that changed, but now governments are being careful about identification and preventing fraud.
 
In my personal opinion, California should never had had liberal identification standards to begin with.  The governments reaction to 9/11 is like frantically putting on your seat belt right after an accident.  The time to wear your seat belt is BEFORE an accident, which means all the time.  Additionally, the credible witness procedure in California and many other states is just as ludicrous as the personal knowledge form of identification.  If you personally know someone, how well does it mean that you know them?  There has never been a definitive standard other than that you knew them from a chain of events and people in various contexts which has several lines of text in legalese which nobody can make much sense of.   Credible witnesses do not usually know a signer well enough to identify them before a public official.  They know a signer as “Joe” their neighbor, and job could tell them his last name was Wagner, and the CW’s would swear to that before the notary when they don’t even know.  California is still careless with its notary laws in many ways.

You might also like:

Can you use an expired license in California? (Discussion)
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5151

New California Notary laws effective Jan 1, 2012
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=3054

Penalties for notary misdeeds and misconduct
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2067

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November 23, 2010

New Laws for Notaries in Illinois

Filed under: Illinois Notary — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 10:02 pm

New laws for Notaries in Illinois 
(1) An Illinois notary public who notarizes a document of conveyance of qualifying residential real estate in Cook county will be required to create a Notarial Record and take a THUMBPRINT of the seller and provide for record keeping of the notary record to all responsible parties.
 
(2) Identification documents must be current / valid at the time of the notarial act and must be issued by a state or federal government agency and must have a picture of the person’s face, plus a signature of the individual.
 
(3) An Illinois notary public who is a principal, employee, or agent of a title insurance company, title insurance agent, financial institution or attorney must deliver the notarial record within 14 days to their employer who must keep the record for seven years.  (this is an unusual sounding rule)
 
(4) An Illinois notary public who is NOT an employee or agent of a title insurance company, title insurance agent, financial instritution, or attorney must submit the notarial record within 14 days to the Cook county recorder of deeds office. 
 
(5) The notarial record must be kept confidential and may only be disclosed by subpoena.  Further, the notarial record is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
 
(6)  Thumbprints.  An Illinois notary public shall require the signer of a document of conveyance, or sale of property (deeds effecting real property) to have their right thumb printed in the notary record (journal)
 
(7) The Illinois notary division gives a definition that residential real property means a building or buildings located in Cook County, IL that has one to four dwelling units or an individual residential condominium unit.
 
(8) An IL notary public may only perform notary acts if they live in the same county they were commissioned in– unless they reside in a state bordering Illinois and have a work address within that county.
 
  Sec. 3‑105. Authority. A notary public shall have authority to perform notarial acts throughout the State so long as the notary resides in the same county in which the notary was commissioned or, if the notary is a resident of a state bordering Illinois, so long as the notary’s principal place of work or principal place of business is in the same county in Illinois in which the notary was commissioned.

(9)  Moving causes your IL notary commission to be nullified
 
Sec. 4‑101. Changes causing commission to cease to be in effect. When any notary public legally changes his or her name or moves from the county in which he or she was commissioned or, if the notary public is a resident of a state bordering Illinois, no longer maintains a principal place of work or principal place of business in the same county in Illinois in which he or she was commissioned, the commission ceases to be in effect and should be returned to the Secretary of State. These individuals who desire to again become a notary public must file a new application, bond, and oath with the Secretary of State.

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November 4, 2010

The Florida Notary issues and quirks

Filed under: Florida Notary — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 10:21 pm

Florida Notary Issues and oddities

Understanding a document
A Florida notary public is NOT required to be able to read all documents being notarized by them, but the signer must be able to read the document. The document must either be in English, or a language the signer can read. This is differently worded from many other states. In California, the notary must be able to communicate directly with the signer, but does not need to understand the contents of the document, nor do the contents need to be in English.

Foreign language signers
The notary must be able to communicate directly with the signer without the help of an interpreter in California. So, if the signer brings their children along to help translate, the notary must decline the job unless direct communication is possible. But, in Florida, the statutes do not specify that the notary and signer must be able to directly communicate, but specify that the signer must have the document translated into a language they understand in order to qualify to get their signature acknowledged.

Verifying a VIN #.
Another unusual official act of a Florida notary is to be able to verify a VIN number on a vehicle. The maximum charge for this is $10 per notary act.

Drafting documents
Other states simple forbid notaries from engaging in legal advice, but don’t spell out exactly what legal advice could consist of. A notary public in Florida is expressly forbidden from drafting any type of document for a client — both legal documents and less formal documents. A legal document is often described of one that might be used in court or submitted to a judge or attorney. Additionally, a Florida notary must not fill in blank spaces in documents as that also constitutes unauthorized practice of law or legal advice in FL.

The Florida Notary Manual page 58 states that a Florida Notary should only sell legal forms and type up documents written by their customers.

Disabilities
A notary in Florida may sign on the behalf of a person with a disability if the disabled person requests. Nobody has ever mentioned any rule like this before on any of our forums.

Notarizing for minors
The state of Florida allows notaries to notarize for minors and should ideally document the minor’s age next to their signature.

Incompetency
A notary may not notarize for an individual who doesn’t seem capable of understanding the meaning of the document being notarized.

Marriages – I do!
Florida notaries may solemnize marriages if the couple provides a marriage certificate. ME, NH, and SC, plus one parish in LA are the only other states we have heard of that allow notaries to conduct marriages, but they need a special extra license in NH to the best of our knowledge. The notary may make up their own verbiage for the marriage, and then complete an official certificate for the marriage.

Also Read: Letter to the Florida Notary Division
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19896

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November 3, 2010

Notary Public – Ohio odd rules

Filed under: Other States — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 8:19 am

Ohio Notary odd rules and practices

If you are interested in oddities of notary laws in various states, rules for Ohio Notaries can sometimes be odd.  Here are some odd Ohio Notary rules / Ohio Notary Laws.

Here are a few examples.

(1) Signature by X
Many states allow signature by mark where the signer signs with an X. This is generally for very elderly signers who can’t sign their name properly. In California and many other states, two signing witnesses are required for this act. If you are an Ohio Notary, you can use a specially worded acknowledgment called a “Signature by mark acknowledgment”. I think this wording is helpful, because it helps to remind the notary what this odd procedure entails. Notaries do signatures by mark very infrequently and most don’t even know how to do it. The wording is:

State of Ohio
County of __________________

On the ____ day of ____, _______, before me, the undersigned notary public, personally appeared __________, personally known to me or proven on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person who made and acknowledged his/her mark on the within instrument in my presence, and in the presence of the two persons indicated below who have signed the within instrument as witnesses, one of whom, ________________________, also wrote the name of the signer by mark near the mark.

Witness my hand and official seal

_____________________ (Seal of Ohio Notary)

(2) Attorney in Fact Acknowledgment
An Ohio notary public can also use the form called an Attorney-in-fact acknowledgment individual. This particular form has he/she, his/her, etc., and is meant for an individual signer, not a duo, or multiple signers.

(3) Corporate Acknowledgment
There is also a corporate acknowledgment that Ohio notaries can use which documents the corporate position of the signer. I inserted the term (capacity), meaning the person’s job title. Here is the official Ohio notary verbiage  / Ohio notary wording:

State of Ohio
County of ____________

On__________, 20__, before me, the undersigned notary public, personally appeared _____________,
personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person who executed the instrument as the ___________________ (capacity) of _____________ (name of corporation), a corporation, and acknowledged to me that such a corporation executed the within instrument pursuant to its by-laws, or a resolution of its board of directors, and that the seal that is affixed to the within instrument is the corporate seal of the said corporation. Witness my hand and official seal.

_________________________ (Seal of Ohio Notary )

(4) The term of office
An Ohio Notary Term of Office is five years. This is roughly the national average for number of years of a notary commission.

(5) An Ohio notary can take depositions
— can transcribe a testimony in a law suit in court.

(6) Credible Witnesses in Ohio
A credible witness can identify a signer for an Ohio Notary. However, no oath is necessary for the credible witness. Many other states require the credible witness to raise their hand and swear under oath to the identity of the signer.

You might also like:

Credible Witnesses when ID and docs have different names

Become an Ohio Notary public

Can a notary be a witness?

Ohio Notary Stories from the Edge

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November 1, 2010

Michigan Notary Public odd rules and issues

Filed under: Other States — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 11:24 pm

Michigan Notary Public oddities and issues

Notary Bond
A prospective Michigan Notary must have a $10,000 bond. But, the odd part is that they must purchase and file this bond within 90 days prior to submitting their Michigan Notary commission application paperwork. This bond must be filed with their local county clerk and an oath of office must be administered as part of the procedure. There is a $10 fee to record the new Michigan Notary’s Oath.

Birthday
The Michigan Notary’s term of office ends on their birthday. Their term is between six and seven years. It begins upon the date specified by the state, and ends on the Notary’s birthday roughly six and a half years later.
Here is the Michigan Notary code: A Notary public may reside in, move to, and perform notarial acts anywhere in this state from the date of appointment until the date of the Notary’s birthday occuring not less than six years and not more than seven years after the date of his or her appointment unless the appointment is cancelled.

Unique Forms
Michigan Notaries can use specialized forms for Notary acts that most other states don’t have. There is an acknowledgment for copartnership. There is another acknowledgment for limited partnership. There is also a corporate acknowledgment to notarize the president of a corporation. There is an acknowledgment for a limited liability company, an acknowledgment for a public officer, and an acknowledgment for a trustee, personal representative, corporation (for any agent or officer), partnership, or attorney in fact; public officer, trustee, or personal representative.

Maintenance of Records
A person, or the personal representative of a person who is deceased, who performed a notarial act, while commissioned as a Notary Public under this act shall maintain all the records of that notarial act for at least five years after the date of that notarial act.

Remote Places
Michigan notaries on the upper peninsula will find that there are only a handful of mobile notaries in this territory which spans hundreds of miles. Notaries in U.P. might be asked to travel more than one hundred miles on a regular basis. Lets hope you get paid for mileage.

You might also like:

Identification requirements for being notarized
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=4299

Information about various notary procedures
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2268

How to complain about a notary public
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2179

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