So I did my first notarization, it was to certifiy a medical document. When I arrived she had the form it said
Suscribed and sworn by me on… I put the date then there was //s/ _______
I then signed my name on that line because it said by me and stamped and signed again near my stamp. Im not sure if this was correct.
@Brandywells33 Welcome to the Notary Cafe forum. 
Unfortunately, there is insufficient data provided to accurately answer your query. I see you’re in Michigan. The first redirect I’d suggest is to review your State provided Notary Handbook for specific details in this regard.
Your Notary Cafe profile states that you’re a notary signing agent [NSA].
You may (or may not) know that for most states any medical documents; i.e., birth certificate, death certificate, etc. as well as marriage licenses, and university or other types of transcripts can only be certified by the originating institutions. Of course, this does vary widely from state-to-state.
Also, if you have a blank copy of the form, you could upload it as that would be of great assistance.
It appears Brandywells33 is from Michigan. It appears from the Michigan law that Michigan notaries do not have any authority to certify true copies as a notarial act. So someone else, such as the doctor who created the document, would have to swear it is a true copy, and you would administer a notarization to that person.
Of course, unless you are an attorney, the document would have to contain appropriate notarial wording, or the person who is asking for the notarization would have to tell you which notarial act they want.
I understand that I cannot certify a document. The wording on the document stated that it was from the State of Michigan for family court it looked to be a type of psychological form. The certificate the client presented had the words subscribed and sworn by me along with the notary block. I thought that meant it was a jurat so I put her under oath. I feel terrible I was very nervous and now second guessing myself this is my first notarization.
The usual scenario with medical record certifications is you go to a doctor’s office. The doctor or a staff member provides a copy of some medical records and tells you it’s a true copy of the records that are on file in that office. (I’ll just say doctor to keep it short.) Some piece of paper is attached to the records that contains a statement for the doctor to sign, saying it is a true copy. The notary administers an oral oath to the doctor, something like this:
Notary: Dr Jones, please raise your right hand. Do you swear this is a true copy of the records of your office, so help you God?
Doctor: I do.
Then the doctor signs the paper and the notary fills out the notary block.
Were the words you’re worried about, “subscribed and sworn by me”, in the notary block or someplace else?
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It was above the block however I signed my name as sworn by me, and she signed hers on a line above mine. But no where on the form did it say certified true copy. Im so confused and hope I didn’t do anything illegal. I was excited and went over the common docs for my state prior to appt. Im guessing if it was not correct I would be notified. Thank you for your help.
The signer’s name goes where it says by. You always and only sign where it says notary, next to your stamp. Look at it this way; you cannot notarize your own name and signature. So, you MUST print the signer’s name in the cert
This how Medical Records are handled in Texas. It’s more often the Custodian of Records who is the affiant. For chain of custody, if required, the documents are places in a sealed envelop and signed by the Custodian and the Notary. The requestor will include the procedure to be followed.
I had one case when I was summoned to testify to the chain of custody procedures. When challenged as to my integrity, it felt rather satisfying to inform opposing council that I’m a retired financial crimes investigator. This also got me several new Attorney clients to handle their remote notary needs.
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