Jurat or acknowledgement

hello notary community,

I have a question that I need help with. A potential client needs a document notarized for her daughter to transfer schools and i was wondering would it be a jurat or acknowledgement?

Not your decision to make, in NC it’s illegal to make the certificate determination for the client… Their responsibility to make that choice, nor should you advise.

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In most cases, the document will already have the Certificate (Jurat &/or Acknowledgment) wanted. If it does NOT, you must ask the signer as deciding which is UPL in all states. You MAY briefly DESCRIBE what each is, but, as stated by drhmsam, it’s the signers responsibility to make that choice (even if, in your opinion, it’s incorrect).

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If the form doesn’t have a certificate that is clearly a jurat or an acknowledgement, you can have the potential client contact the school or school district that is going to receive the form and ask what they want, You could supply the client with blank jurat and acknowledgement forms to show the school.

The client should have a clear idea whether the form is going to the sending school or the receiving school. The two schools could have different requirements.

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Good Afternoon,

I have a similar question regarding jurat or acknowledgement.
The guidelines state we are not to decide what form to use when it comes to Jurats or acknowledgements. On the other hand, I have heard notaries state if you are at a loan signing you may need to add a loose certificate if the proper wording is not in the packet for your state, or if you make an error, (your stamp does not show properly), etc. Who decides at that point which form to use?

Thanks,

It depends on the state. There is one state in the southeastern US that maintains the notary can’t change anything in the certificate, it is up to the signer to present a correct certificate; the notary just fills in the blanks, signs it, and seals it. I think that’s just stupid; it’s harder for a notary to figure out if the wording of some weird certificate is correct or not than for the notary to just provide a loose certificate.

In most states, the notary can’t decide which notarial act should be performed (take an acknowledgement, administer an oath or affirmation, witness a signature, etc.) unless the notary is a lawyer. But once the signer decides which act is appropriate, the notary can provide the certificate.

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