Georgia Notary Law
Georgia Notary Law tests the statutory framework for commissioning, authority, and liability. Expect questions on who may serve, what a notary may and may not do, how identity is established, and when a notarial act is defective.
Commission and authority
A Georgia notary public is commissioned for a four-year term through the superior court clerk in the applicant's county, with application processing handled by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority. A commissioned notary may perform notarial acts throughout Georgia, but the seal identifies the county of commission. Core powers include administering oaths and affirmations, taking acknowledgments, and completing jurats for affidavits and other sworn statements. A notary is a neutral witness, not a legal adviser.
Duties and limits
- Require the signer to appear personally; never notarize by phone, video, or mail.
- Establish identity by satisfactory evidence-government photo ID, personal knowledge, or a credible witness-and record what you used if you keep records.
- Complete the certificate at the time of the act: venue (State of Georgia, County of ______), date, notary signature, and seal.
- Do not notarize your own signature, a document in which you are a signer or beneficiary, or a document you do not understand well enough to identify the signer.
- Do not give legal advice, select a certificate for the signer, draft legal documents, or guarantee a document's legal effect.
- Keep the seal secure and use only while commissioned; a notary who resigns or lets a commission lapse must stop acting immediately.
Worked example
A signer hands you an affidavit already signed and says, 'I swear this is true.' You administer an oath and complete a jurat. That is defective: a jurat certifies the signer signed in your presence after the oath. The signer must sign again while you watch, or the document must be re-executed. An acknowledgment, by contrast, can follow a signature because it certifies that the signer appeared and acknowledged the signature.
Traps
Using an acknowledgment form for a sworn statement; backdating; omitting the county; notarizing after commission expiration; accepting an expired ID; and signing a blank certificate. Each defect can void the notarial act and expose the notary to liability.