Notarial Certificate Wording and Completion
The certificate is the evidence
The notarial certificate is the notary's own statement of what occurred, and it is what a court or recorder will read years later. A complete Utah certificate identifies the venue (State of Utah, County of ___ where the act is performed), the date, the principal, and the act performed, and it carries the notary's signature plus a legible stamp showing the notary's name, the words 'Notary Public,' 'State of Utah,' and the commission expiration date.
Match the wording to the act
- Acknowledgment: language confirming the signer was personally known, or proved on the basis of satisfactory evidence, to be the person whose name is subscribed, and acknowledged signing voluntarily.
- Jurat: 'Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on ___ by ___.'
When a signer acts for an entity or as an attorney-in-fact, the certificate should state that representative capacity.
Traps
Attaching a jurat when no oath was administered; using an acknowledgment for a sworn statement; omitting venue or county; pre-signing or pre-stamping a blank certificate; writing over the seal; and 'fixing' a completed certificate by altering it. If a certificate contains an error, complete a new certificate or make a dated, initialed correction - never backdate. If the document has no certificate, the notary may not pick one for the principal; choosing the certificate type is legal advice. Refer the principal to the document's author or an attorney.
Rule of thumb: 'Read the certificate before the pen moves - if you cannot honestly sign it as written, stop.'