Other Notarial Acts: Verification, Certification, Protest, and Copy Certification
Verification, certification, and attestation
A verification on oath or affirmation records a statement of fact made under oath-sworn testimony in written form. A certification of fact is the notary's own attestation of a fact (for example, that a person appeared and produced identification) without administering an oath. Attesting or witnessing a signature confirms that the identified person signed in the notary's presence.
Certified copies
A notary may certify that a copy is a true, exact, and complete reproduction of an original shown to the notary. A notary may not certify copies of records whose certified copies must come from the official custodian: birth and death certificates, marriage records, court records, and documents required by law to be filed or recorded with a government office, such as deeds, mortgages, and recorded judgments. Send the requester to the agency.
Protests
A notary may note a protest of a negotiable instrument-formally recording that a draft, note, or check was presented and dishonored. The protest should identify the instrument and parties, the date and manner of presentment, and the reason for dishonor, and the act should be journaled.
Traps
- Certifying a photocopy of a driver's license, passport, or birth certificate-favorite wrong-copy questions.
- Treating a notarial certified copy as equivalent to an agency-certified copy.
- "Certifying" that a document is legally sufficient or enforceable-not a notarial function.
- Confusing verification (sworn) with certification (unsworn attestation).
Rule of thumb
If the original lives in a government vault or recording office, the notary does not copy it-the custodian does.