VERBAL CEREMONY FOR NOTARY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Denise that is scary.  Most documents that I see people having notarized are documents that they themselves bring to a notary.  So my question is why would someone bring something to a notary to notarize if they didn't understand it.  I can see if the document is being presented to them for the first time at the time it is also being notarized, but that is not what I usually see.

Just shows that no matter how obvious you think something is, follow the proper steps anyway.

Of the 24 years I have been notarizing documents, I think I have only done a verbal ceremony once. I think verbal ceremonies will become more and more necessary in this litigious society. We have to follow proper procedures or wind up in court defending our positions. I will start with the verbal ceremonies as well as the thumb print. Thanks for sharing this very interesting topic.

There isn't a verbal command for CA notaries for an Acknowledgment. 

 The only instance where the notary would give a verbal command is when the client has signed an Acknowledgment before bring the document to the notary and then we would say "do you acknowledgment that this is your signature on this document?"

Denise

You sure have a lot more to know as a notary in California compared to Michigan. Can you do it just once with a mortgage package or do they require it for every single document?

When I do Jurats I have my client raise their right hand and swear that the contents are true to their knowledge but I wasn't aware of asking questions for an acknowledgment.  As notaries, we generally can't answer questions about the documents and in no way required to know or understand all the different documents that can require notarization. 

Thanks for bringing this up.  I'll make sure that my clients in the future understand what they are signing.

Denise

There is nothing in our CA handbook that requires an oath for an Acknowledgments and you might be doing something that no other CA notary does.

I would suggest you call our CA Sec of State  and ask them if an oath is required for a CA ACK?

I am just trying to be helpful in this post.

In reply to Joan's statement... part of the CA acknowledgment wording is:

...who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their authorized capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s), or the entity upon behalf of which the person(s) acted, executed the instrument.

I respectfully disagree because of the wording "..and acknowledged to me..".  How can the signer acknowledge to you that it is their name and signature on the document if you don't ask them?

If we put this in the context of a more specific situation, I think it's quite easy to understand the importance of the verbal acknowledgement being discussed.  One rather common situation, for example, would be the notarization of a Quit Claim Deed where the Grantor is an elderly person in the hospital.

QC Deeds are notarized with Acknowledgements (typically).  I can't imagine a notary performing in this situation WITHOUT obtaining clear verbal acknowledgement from the Grantor that they understand what they're signing and that they're signing of their own free will. 

 I administer the oath at every every closing since most of my packages contain both Jurats and Acks. I am reviewing my current journal and can't locate an entry where I notarized a Ack for any single document.

Denise.

 I teach students (for 4 years) to pass the CA State Notary exam for www.notaryclasses.com and there is not an oath or affirmation for a CA Acknowledgement.

Please call our Sec of State and ask for the notary division and ask them if an oath/affirmation is required for an Acknowledgment?

They will tell you no.

Jurats  (in CA) require a sworn oath or affirmation but Acknowledgments do not.

Let's not get into the subscribing witness thing.

I appreciate your posts because you are really bright and are an excellent  CA notary.

Joan - I think you might be misunderstanding.  The discussion is about obtaining a verbal acknowledgement, not an oath.  Denise's article outlined both, so clearly she understands the difference.

Denise, interesting point and very important.  I'm not a notary but have never heard the notary ask any questions.  They usually ask for a copy of someone's drivers license if they do not know the people signing and that's it. Thanks for stopping by my blog this morning.

I've asked the first question, but never the following two when I was a notary years ago. Never thought about it, but I guess I should have.

As to acknowledgments, I always ask the signer if they have reviewed the documents and understand the documents that they will be executing before me.  On a few occasions, I have had to back away as I could not tell if the person was coherent or understanding of what they were doing. 

As to Jurats, I administer the oath every time.  Here's an old blog post that explains why: 

http://activerain.com/blogsview/470757/Raise-your-right-hand

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