Hello All,
I have a question regarding jurats. I just administered an oath of office for a new notary. I myself have been commissioned for about 2 years, however, I am not a very “active” notary. Regarding jurats, should I complete one in this scenario and if so, are there templates for this? How crucial is a jurat in this scenario?
THANK YOU!
It isn’t up to you, unless you are a lawyer. It’s up to the person requesting services from a notary to decide what forms should be completed and what notarial acts are to be performed. Once the person who sought your services decides on what notarial act is wanted, it’s up to you to make sure the certificate is correct for that act.
What notarial act the new notary should ask for depends on what state the new notary is becoming a notary in (which might or might not be the same as the state you are commissioned in).
A possible excuse for you to advise the new notary about what form to complete and what notarial act to ask for would be if you are designated/certified/recognized as a notary trainer by the new notary’s state.
Jurats are crucial in the scenario, however Texas notary oaths of office already contain the required notarial certificate: www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/forms/2204.pdf
You may wish to study the Texas notary portal and review the Texas notary rules, FAQs, and handbook before you go much further.
Q: May a notary public pick which type of notarial certificate should be attached to a document?
A: No. A notary public who is not an attorney, can only complete the notarial certificate that is already on the document. Choosing a notarial certificate for a document is practicing law. Instead, the notary may allow the person for whom the notarization is performed to choose among the sample certificates provided to the notary with the notary’s commission. The notarial certificate must be in a language the notary can read and understand. Regardless of which notarial certificate is used and however it is worded, the notary public has a duty to make sure that the information contained in the notarial certificate is a true and accurate reflection of the notarization which the notary performs.
Also, I did a Google search for “Texas acknowledgement .pdf” and “Texas jurat .pdf” for you and located printable examples:
Printable Texas acknowledgement certificate: https://www.txcourts.gov/media/823393/Form-II-1-Certificate-of-Acknowledgment.pdf
Printable Texas jurat: https://www.txcourts.gov/media/823396/Form-II-2-Jurat.pdf
(Examples of Texas notary certificates:
https://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/forms/edinfo-sample-forms-9-19.pdf)
I wish you the best of luck.
Agree with Ashton.
The notary public does not decide which notarial act is required/appropriate. It is up to the requestor (is that even a word?) of service to decide/determine which notarial act they want. If the notary were to make that determination, that may be considered UPL (unauthorized practice of law).
Insofar as the notarial certificate itself – The verbiage for the certificate may depend on where you, the notary public, are located. For example, I’m in California. California notary law is very specific as to the verbiage for both an Acknowledgment and a Jurat and the California SOS website provides a fillable version of each. If you’re not in California, it’s best to review your state’s notary handbook or contact your commissioning authority for guidance on verbiage.
This forum question & response thread is a nice example of how there are so many helpful and supportive people on NotaryCafe. I’m thankful for the community here!
Oh, and it is a word:
derivatives
requester | rəˈkwestər | (also requestor) noun
Thank you, Mr. Ashton.
Thank you, Carmen Appreciate the input!
Thank you for the information, Yolicue!
I am in California. If I have an out-of-state jurat or acknowledgment on a document and I need to replace it with the CA equivalent, I read the out-of-state notary language to determine which to attach. If the language includes the language that the the signer is swearing or affirming, I would use a jurat and if the language says they acknowledge something, I use an acknowledgment. If it is not easily discernable, I would call the preparer. Is this the correct approach?
Thank you for the information Ashton
Question: Did you only administer the oath?
