Frequently Asked Questions

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A: The Commonwealth of Virginia Notary Public Handbook defines a Notary as a public officer “who acts as an official, unbiased witness to the identity and signature of the person who comes before the notary for a specific purpose. The person may be taking an oath, giving oral or written testimony, or signing or acknowledging his or her signature on a legal document. In each case, the notary attests that certain formalities [as required by law] are observed”.

A: The code of Virginia specifies five basic notarial acts:

1) Taking Acknowledgments

2) Administering Oaths

3) Certifying affidavits

4) Certifying depositions

5) Certifying “true copies” of documents*

* Virginia notaries are not authorized to certify copies of birth, death, or marriage certificates.  Only the Division of Vital Records/Statistics may perform such a certification.  If you need a certified copy of this type of document, you must request it from the state in which the individual was born.  As a fraud prevention measure, many states require that the request form be notarized – a Virginia notary can notarize your signature on this form. Virginia notaries are not authorized to perform marriage ceremonies.

 A: As per Virginia law, all signers must personally appear before the notary and present government issued photo identification. The name on the identification must match the name printed on the document. Acceptable identification documents are as follows:

– State issued driver’s license

– State issued identification card

– United States military card

– United States passport

– Certificate of United States citizenship

– Certificate of naturalization

– Alien registration card with photograph

– Unexpired foreign passport

A notary may refuse to notarize a signature if he or she is uncertain of an individual’s identity, or if the notary is uncomfortable with the validity of the identification documents.

A: The two most common types of notarizations are “Acknowledgment” and “Jurat”. The type of notarization needed is usually indicated on the document with a pre-printed notarial certificate.  However, if a notarial certificate is not pre-printed, the document signer must choose which to use, as the notary is prohibited from doing so.

Acknowledgment – An Acknowledgment certificate indicates that the signer personally appeared before the notary, was identified by the notary, and acknowledged to the notary that he or she freely signed the document. The signer must familiarize himself with the document and complete all blank fields before meeting with the notary.  Wait to sign the document until you are in front of the notary.

Jurat – A Jurat certificate indicates that the signer personally appeared before the notary, was identified by the notary, and signed the document in front of the notary. Additionally, the notary must administer an oath asking the signer to swear or affirm that the content of the document is true to the best of their knowledge. If the document has already been signed, the notary must have the signer re-sign the document in the Notary’s presence. Jurats are typically seen on Affidavits. The signer must familiarize himself with the document and complete all blank fields before meeting with the notary.

A simple way to tell which notarization your document requires is to look for the word “acknowledge” for an Acknowledgment, and for a Jurat look for the words “subscribed and sworn” or mention of an oath.

 A: The document preparer may require the document to be signed with specific POA working – check with the document preparer before meeting with the notary. If you are signing loan documents, the lender and title company must be made aware of the POA ahead of time and must approve its use prior to signing the loan documents.  The title company may require the original POA be returned with the loan documents so it can be recorded with the Deed of Trust.

A: A notary must proceed with extreme caution when asked to notarize a Will, as it is a highly sensitive document.  Many Virginia notaries do not offer Will notarization services, or only do so if the notarization is at the direction of an attorney and if the Will already has a pre-printed notarial certificate within the document. Unless he or she is an attorney, the notary is prohibited from answering any questions about the legalities of a Will.

Wills usually require two witnesses, which cannot be the notary.  The witnesses must be unaffected by the content of the document.  All witnesses must provide identification to the notary, as their signatures are typically notarized on a Self-Proving Affidavit along with that of the Testator of the Will. The document signer is responsible for securing witnesses.