I received a quitclaim deed signing that requires two witnesses. The assigner did not know that a notary in my state cannot act as a witness, and the document requires two witnesses, so now I must find two people to be document witnesses. This is all last minute as well.
Is there any legal issue in potentially paying a document witness? I might have a hard time getting a last minute witness for free, especially amidst coronavirus.
Also, is it normal for the notary to collect document witnesses??
Did you get this assignment from a signing company or via private call? Getting witnesses is the signer’s issue, not yours. If they don’t know two people who can be there to be witnesses, make arrangements to meet them in a public place where you can ask a couple people if they’d mind sparing 5 minutes to help you out.
Any time I’ve had to arrange witnesses, I’ve charged a $25 witness fee - many times people will magically find witnesses when they find they have to pay more for you to get them.
This was from a signing company. Fortunately it does appear that two of my friends will be able to assist. The title company said the signer only had his wife who can’t be a witness. I was under the impression that getting a witness was on the signer.
This is why I hate it when signing companies insert themselves into single document general notary work - the notary loses any wiggle room on the fee.
I would advise the signing company of the situation and let them know my fee for this is $XX and my witness fee is $XX per witness. Or hopefully you’ve already negotiated a sufficient fee that covers this.
My example (for ME only) - my fee within my county would be $50 plus another $50 for two witnesses - $100
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Arranging witnesses is the signer’s responsibility, not the notary’s. Personally, I won’t be pushed into that responsibility. Too many possible ramifications. For instance: What if your witnesses don’t show up? What if they don’t have appropriate ID? If you provide the witnesses, their failure is your failure.
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