What goes on the line after BEFORE? Should it be the name of the signer or the name of the notary?
On _______, ______________, before
______________________, Notary Public in and for said county, personally appeared who has/have satisfactorily identified him/her/themselves as the signer(s) to the above-referenced document.
Thank you, Belinda
What you should do depends on what state you are.
What you not do is use the certificate that you typed, because it’s pretty bad. You might want to check that what showed up in the forum is what you actually meant to type (or it could be that whoever composed the document did a bad job).
This certificate does not mention either of the most common notarial acts, administering an oath or taking an acknowledgement. All that is mentioned is that someone appeared before the notary, was identified, and that person’s signature is in the document.
The notarial act that comes closest is witnessing a signature, which is allowed in many but not all states. If that’s what is wanted,the certificate in the question is faulty because it doesn’t say the signer signed in the presence of the notary, only that the signer said he/she signed it. The signer could have signed it in 1983 and the certificate would still be true.
The State is New Jersey. I thought the document did not read right. The title company wanted the signers name on the blank line after “before”, which didn’t make any sense to me. Putting the signers name after the “before” made it appear that the signer was the notary agent. It appears that the verbiage “personally appeared ___________” was missing, at a minimum. Since I am new, I wanted to confirmed that I wasn’t incorrect.
In those instances, should I refuse to perform the notary if the title company refuses to change the verbiage?
Belinda
You should refuse the assignment if the title company does not correct the certificate. Unless you are a lawyer, it isn’t your place to decide which notarial act should be performed, and the certificate does not make it clear which act is wanted. So the first thing the title needs to figure out is what kind of notarial act they want.
On August 7, 2023, Don Ho, before John Smith, Notary public in and for said county, personally appeared who has satisfactory identified him as the signer to the above referenced document.
That’s an acknowledgment.
The signers are appearing before YOU, the notary public.
What is missing to me seems to be the verbiage that identifies WHO appeared before you.
See page #13 of New Jersey’ notary handbook:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/revenue/pdf/NotaryPublicManual.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi7pMGNyMuAAxUNLEQIHXU8A5sQFnoECBkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1ZjbV8eL5JVoNin2hc8mZs
I hope this helps you.
I disagree. Like my state, VT, the original poster’s state, NJ, has adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. The New Jersey law defines an acknowledgement as
a. “Acknowledgment” means a declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record and, if the record is signed in a representative capacity, that the individual signed the record with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the record.
Even after the correction by ewing_joe, the certificate in the original post doesn’t say the signer acknowledged the document, just that the signer signed it. The NJ law, like RULONA, give this as an authorized short-form certificate for an acknowledgement in an individual capacity:
State of ________________________________________
County of ___________________________________
This record was acknowledged before me on __________ (date) by __________________________________
(Name(s) of individual(s))
Signature of notarial officer
Stamp
Title of office
(My commission expires: _________)
I disagree - how do you know that? All it says is they identified themselves - not whether they acknowledged or swore to the truth of…
Here is NJ manual link - which contains samples of certificates authorized for use - beginning on page 13
In answer to OP’s question, normally the notary’s name goes in after the word “BEFORE” - in this case if I were you - after seeing the manual - I’d attach a NJ-compliant loose cert
Picking up on the post by LindaH-FL at 13:44 UTC about using the word “before” in a certificate, and only that:
The NJ short-form certificates for acknowledgement, verification on oath or affirmation, and signature witnessing all contain the phrase “before me”. It means that whatever action on the part of the signer is described in the certificate occurred in the presence of the notary on the date, and in the county, described at the beginning of the certificate.
So for an acknowledgement, the signer came into the presence of the notary and said he/she signed for the purposes in the document, but might have signed the document before coming to the notary.
For a verification on oath or affirmation, the signer orally took the oath and signed the document in the presence of the notary.
For a signature witnessing, the signer signed in the presence of the notary.
In this context, “before” does not mean earlier in time, it means, as the online Merriam-Webster dictionary says, “in the presence of” and gives the example “speaking before the conference”
The answer to your question should’ve clearly been answered in your State’s Notary Handbook. However, the answer is the NOTARY’s name goes in the blank space after the “before”. And furthermore, if you were the state of California, you also have to write the word Notary Public.
Personally Appeared = Acknowledgment
If it were a Jurat, you would see the words, “oath”, “sworn”, “subscribed” or "affirmed.
Belinda, it’s your job to correct the notarial certificate to comply with your states notary laws. As I said, it’s an acknowledgment.
What I don’t appreciate is being told I’m wrong.
Any notary with even a drop of professionalism would have the wherewithal to replace that with a compliant certificate.
Since we now know the certificate is being executed in New Jersey, we now know that one of the notarial acts the original poster could perform is witness a signature. It seems to me the certificate in the original post is more like witnessing a signature than any of the other possible notarial acts.
Most notarial acts require that the signer (or speaker in the case of an oral oath) personally appear before the notary. Either “before me” or “personally appeared” are usually acceptable ways for the certificate to indicate that the signer was in the presence of the notary when the act was carried out. It doesn’t help distinguish whether the notarial act is taking an acknowledgement, administering an oath, or witnessing a signature. Using both the word “before” and the phrase “personally appeared” is also acceptable.
Of course in states that demand a certain exact wording for the certificate, the state’s required wording must be used.
If this is addressed to me, which I assume it is because Belinda did not say you were wrong - but I merely challenged your conclusion that it was an acknowledgement when there is nothing in the original post that stated that or supports that.
I stand by my post
Use an all purpose acknowledgement …u can download them… and it will have the proper language
Fill it out andxattach it to the doc
I always write the name of the document its for on it
First, it’s wrong for the notary to suggest an acknowledgement when the hiring party and the signer have not indicated which notarial act is wanted.
Second, even if it turns out that an acknowledgement is what is wanted, the only state I know of that provides a download for an all-purpose acknowledgement is California. That is a poor choice for any other state, particularly states that have passed RULONA as the original poser’s state, New Jersey, has. In RULONA states there are two separate short form certificates, one for individuals acknowledging for themselves, and a different one for signers acknowledging as a representative, such as an attorney-in-fact or a corporation president.
Thank you everyone for all of your input. It was very insightful and informative.
ashton
it is not wrong to use an all purpose acknowledgement when it is called for
that would have been an obvious question
secondly NY has acknowledgement forms i use all the time
if one is required and i don’t like their language
i tell the s c or title I’m doing it
here in NY its our call we control the Notarial language in the paragraph to suit the purpose
000s of signings never had one refused or sent back
depends on situation as always
Notary should clarify the language and purpose
NNA also has downloads of forms or google
In addition I have all purpose acknowledgements i use for for other states in a single format, nobody has ever complained in years
I’ve been complimented by many companies for my professionalism using them.
again I always check first to be sure of the language
