Notarial Certificates and Forms
What the domain covers
Notarial Certificates and Forms tests your ability to choose and complete the correct certificate. The certificate is your official statement of what you did. Kansas certificates must identify the venue, the act performed, the date, the signer, and your signature and stamp.
Core rules
- Venue. Kansas certificates begin with the state and county: “State of Kansas, County of ______.” The county is where the notarial act occurs.
- Acknowledgment. The certificate states that the signer personally appeared, was identified, and acknowledged executing the document voluntarily. No oath is required.
- Jurat. The certificate states that the document was subscribed and sworn (or affirmed) before you on a stated date. You must actually administer the oath. A jurat without an oath is a false certificate.
- Signature and stamp. Sign the certificate, print your name and title, and apply your official stamp. The stamp must be legible and must not obscure text. Kansas requires an official stamp identifying you as a notary public for the State of Kansas.
- Date. Use the date the act occurred. Never backdate or postdate a certificate.
Worked example
A signer hands you an affidavit with the preprinted words “Subscribed and sworn to before me this ____ day of ____.” The signer has not raised a hand or spoken an oath. This is a jurat, so administer an oath or affirmation: “Do you swear or affirm that the statements in this affidavit are true?” After the signer answers yes, complete the date, sign, and stamp. If you merely watch the signature and sign the jurat, you have certified something that did not happen.
Traps that cost marks
Using an acknowledgment form for a jurat, or the reverse, is a common error. Missing venue, missing date, missing stamp, or a signature without a printed name also loses marks. Do not let the signer fill in the certificate or dictate wording. Do not write “notarized” without a complete certificate.