123Notary
Enter Zip, City, or County... i.e. orange,NY or 90019
Search Method:    regular time edocs


Resources > Glossary > Notary Act

Glossary of Notary Public, Mortgage, Signing Agent, and Loan Signing Terms.

0-9  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  [N]  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  
Common Terms 1   Common Terms 2

Notary Act

Function: noun

Notary Fees: Each state has their own maximum fee schedule for each type of notary act. Fee schedules can be confusing in each state when acts are divided into parts with add-ons. Please consult your state's notary page via our "find a notary" page on our navigation bar for more information about notary fees.

A notary act is an official act executed by a notary public. An acknowledged signature, jurat, protest, oath, or affirmation could all be considered an official notary act. Notary acts must be recorded in a journal of notarial acts in most states. Most notary acts required the used of an inked seal or embosser. Notary Acts.

There are a wide variety of notary acts. Acknowledgments are the most common notary act.

An Acknowledgment is where a signer acknowledges that they signed a document when before a notary. The signer could have signed it long before they were before a notary. The signer must personally appear before the notayr to get this type of notarization.

A Jurat is a common type of notarization where the signer must sign the document in front of the notary in addition to taking an oath in front of the notary. An Oath usually involves raising your right hand and swearing to the truthfulness of a statement or document. Its common for people to refer to a notary certificate form as a Jurat, however, there are many types of notary certificates, and a Jurat form is just one of them, representing only 20% of all notary acts.

Affirmations & Oaths
This can vary from state to state. Many states have combined Affirmations and Oaths into one merged act. An Oath is where a signer swears under Oath that a particular statement or document is true and correct. An Affirmation is the same as an Oath except is does not include a reference to a superior being such as God.

Proof of Execution
This odd notary act is the only notary act that allows a signer to be notarized without appearing before a notary public, and its legal in many states. A subscribing witness who saw the signer sign, appears before the notary and swears that the signer really signed the document. This type of Notayr Act is not acceptable for Deeds or many other highly critical documents.

Protests
A Protest is a notary act where the signer protests the nonpayment or nonacceptance of a bill of exchange or promisary note. There are a few states that even have an act called a Marine Protest. A Protest is an antiquated Notary Act, but it is still legal in most states and part of most notary manuals.
Please see our blog articles about Notary Acts

Thesaurus / Related Terms
Protest
Oath
Acknowledgment
Jurat
Affirmation
Proof of Execution