Some commonly used Notary terms and abbreviations

Acknowledgment: Act in which a Notary certifies having positively identified a document signer who personally appeared before the Notary and admitted having signed the document.

Administer: To give formally, as in "giving" an oath or affirmation.

Affiant: Signer of an affidavit.

Affidavit: Written statement signed before a Notary by a person who swears or affirms to the Notary that the statement is true.

Affirmation: Spoken, solemn promise on one's personal honor, with no reference to a Supreme Being, that is made before a Notary in relation to a jurat or other Notary act, or as a Notary act in its own right.

Apostille: Authenticating certificate required by Hague Convention that replaces a traditional chain of certificates.

Attorney in Fact: Person who has authority to sign for another.

Authentication: Process of proving the genuineness of the signature and seal of a Notary or other official, usually through attachment of a certificate of authority.

Awareness: Being able to understand what is happening and to act responsibly.

Capacity: Specific role of a representative signer — attorney in fact, trustee, corporate officer, partner or other — when signing for another person, organization or legal entity.

Certificate: Wording completed, signed and sealed by a Notary that states the particulars of a notarization and appears at the end of a signed document or on a paper attached to it. Sometimes referred to as the "Statement of Particulars" or the "Notary block."

Certificate Form: Notarial certificate wording on a separate sheet of paper that is attached to a document. Used when no wording is provided, when the provided certificate wording does not comply with state requirements, when there is no room for the seal on the document or when a preprinted certificate has already been used by another Notary.

Certified Copy: Document certified by an official, such as a Notary, to be an accurate reproduction of an original.

Chain Certification: Traditional authentication procedure that requires sequential attachment of certificates of authority, each validating the genuineness of the preceding one.

Commission: To authorize to perform notarial acts; written authorization to perform Notary acts that is issued by a state's governor, secretary of state or other empowering official. Called an appointment in some states and jurisdictions.

Copy Certification: Act in which a Notary certifies that a copy of a document is a true and accurate reproduction of the original.

Credible Identifying Witness: Believable person who identifies a document signer to the Notary after taking an oath or affirmation. The credible identifying witness must personally know the document signer and also be personally known by the Notary.

Custodian or Document Custodian: Keeper of a document.

Deed: Document transferring ownership of property and requiring notarization.

Deposition: Written statement used in a lawsuit that is transcribed from words spoken by a person (deponent) under oath or affirmation and that is usually signed by this person.

Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance: Contract between a Notary and an indemnity company whereby, in the event of a lawsuit against the Notary resulting from certain acts in performing a notarization, the company absorbs the Notary's costs and financial liabilities up to an agreed limit.

Guardian: Person with the lawful power and duty to manage the affairs of another individual; conservator.

Identification Document (ID Card): Document or card which establishes the bearer's identity. Examples include passports, driver's licenses and nondriver's IDs, among others.

Impartiality: State of being unbiased; specifically, having no motive but to perform notarial duties legally and ethically.

Impartial Witness: Observer without bias; one who has no financial or beneficial interest in the transaction at hand.

Inking Seal: Device that imprints ink on paper to form a photocopiable Notary seal.

Journal of Notary Acts: A Notary journal is a detailed, chronological record of the Notary Public's official acts.

Jurat: Act in which a Notary certifies having watched the signing of a document and administered an oath or affirmation.

Jurisdiction: Geographic area — a state or county — in which a Notary Public is authorized to perform acts.

Living Will: Written statement of a person's wishes concerning medical treatment in the event the signer has an illness or injury and is unable to give instructions on his or her own behalf.

Ministerial Official: Public officer who follows written rules without having to use significant judgment or discretion. A Notary is a ministerial official.

Nondriver's ID: Identification document similar to a driver's license issued by most states upon request to nondrivers, such as juveniles and the elderly.

Notary Acts, Notarizations: Witnessing duties of a Notary that are specified by law. Most often, the Notary's duties involve signed documents and require the Notary to ensure a signer's identity and/or to administer an oath or affirmation.

Notary Public: Person of proven integrity appointed by a state government to serve the public as an impartial witness with duties specified by law. The Notary has the power to witness the signing of documents and to administer oaths.

Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility: Code of conduct for Notaries, developed by the National Notary Association.

Oath: Spoken, solemn promise to a Supreme Being that is made before a Notary in relation to a jurat or other Notary act, or as a Notary act in its own right.

Personal Appearance: Appearing in person, face to face, in the same room with the Notary at the time of the notarization — not before and not after.

Personal Knowledge: Familiarity with an individual resulting from random interactions over a period of time sufficient to eliminate every reasonable doubt that the individual has the identity claimed.

Power of Attorney: Document granting authority for a person to act as attorney in fact for another.

Principal: Person who is a signer of and party to a document.

Proof of Execution by Subscribing Witness: Act where a person (called the subscribing witness) states under oath or affirmation before a Notary that he or she either watched another individual (called the principal) sign a document or took that person's acknowledgment of an already signed document. The witness must affix a signature to the document in addition to the principal's.

Protest: Act in which a Notary certifies that a signer did not receive payment for a negotiable instrument.

Publicly Recorded: Placed in the public record or filed with a county recorder as authentic.

Reasonable Care: Degree of concern and attentiveness that a person of normal intelligence and responsibility would exhibit.

Representative Capacity: Status of signing or acting on behalf of another person or on behalf of a legal entity, such as a corporation, partnership or trust.

Representative Signer: Person with the legal authority to sign for another individual, organization or legal entity. Representative signing capacities include attorney in fact, trustee, corporate officer and partner.

Satisfactory Evidence: Reliable identification document, or the sworn or affirmed statement of a credible identifying witness, that satisfactorily proves that an individual has the identity claimed.

Seal of Notary: A Notary seal is an inking or embossing device that imprints the Notary's name, title (Notary Public) and jurisdiction on a notarized document. Also may include such information as the county where the commission and bond are on file, commission number and date of commission expiration.

Signature by Mark: An "X" or other symbol made in place of a signature by a person unable to write and witnessed by a Notary and two other persons.

Signature of Notary: Handwritten name of and by the Notary, matching exactly with the name on the Notary's commissioning paper.

Signing Agent: A Notary who specializes in loan document assignments, performing courier duties for loan packages as well as notarizing the borrower's signature on loan documents. Sometimes referred to as a "Notary Signing Agent" or "NSA."

SS. or SCT.: Abbreviations of the Latin word scilicet, meaning "in particular" or "namely." Traditional element appearing after or to the right of the venue in a Notary certificate.

Statutory Fee: Charge prescribed by law for services.

Subscribe: Sign.

Subscribing Witness: Person who either watches another (the principal) sign a document or takes that person's acknowledgment of an already-signed document and appears before the Notary on behalf of the principal. The subscribing witness must sign the document in addition to the principal, must be personally known by the Notary and must take an oath or affirmation stating that he or she witnessed the principal sign or took the principal's acknowledgment.

Substantially Complies: In agreement, but not necessarily verbatim.

Supplemental ID: Identification document that, alone, does not provide positive identification of a signer due to its lack of a photograph, the ease with which it may be counterfeited and the low level of security in its issuance.

Swear: To make an oath; to state under oath. To make a solemn promise to a Supreme Being.

Testimonium Clause: Wording in a Notary certificate whereby the Notary formally attests to the facts. Typically phrased as, "Witness my hand and official seal."

Unauthorized Practice of Law: Practice of law by a person who is not a legal professional. Illegal act of a non-attorney in helping another person to draft, prepare, complete, select or understand a document or transaction.

Venue: Wording in a Notary certificate that indicates the state and county where the notarization takes place.

Verification: Sworn or affirmed declaration that a statement or pleading is true.

Vital Record: Birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate or other public record of demographic data.

Will: Legal document containing a person's wishes about disposition of personal property after death; short for "last will and testament."

Willingness: Acting freely without duress or undue influence.

Witness: One who has personally seen something; to observe.