Notary Public Certification

• The certificate of acknowledgment is the form most frequently completed by a notary public.
• The certificate of acknowledgment must be in the form set forth in Civil Code section 1189.

Notary Public Certification

• The signer personally appeared before the notary public on the date indicated in the indicated county.
• The signer's identity
• The signer acknowledged executing the document

Notary Public Sequential Journal

• The journal must contain a statement that the identity of a person making the acknowledgment or taking the oath or affirmation was based on satisfactory evidence.
• If identity was established based on the oath of a credible witness personally known to the notary public, then the journal must contain:
  • Signature of the credible witness
  • Type of identifying document used to establish the witness' identity
  • Governmental agency issuing the document
  • The serial or identifying number of the document
  • The date of issue or expiration of the document
• If the identity of the person making the acknowledgment or taking the oath or affirmation was established by the oaths or affirmations of two credible witnesses whose identities are proven to the notary public upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence, then the journal must contain:
  • Signatures of the credible witnesses
  • Type of identifying document
  • Identifying numbers of the documents
  • Dates of issuance or expiration of the documents presented by the witnesses to establish their identities

Certificate of Acknowledgment

• Must be completely filled out at the time the notary public's signature and seal are affixed.
• Executed under penalty of perjury.
• Completion of a certificate of acknowledgment that contains statements that the notary public knows to be false may cause the notary public to be liable for:
  • Civil penalties
  • Administrative action
  • Criminal offense
• A notary public who willfully states as true any material fact known to be false is subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000 as per Civil Code section 1189(a)(2).
• A notary public may complete a certificate of acknowledgment required in another state or jurisdiction of the United States on documents to be filed in that other state or jurisdiction, provided the form does not require the notary public to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or to make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law.
• Any certificate of acknowledgment taken within California must be in the specified form.
• An acknowledgment cannot be affixed to a document mailed or otherwise delivered to a notary public whereby the signer did not personally appear before the notary public, even if the signer is known by the notary public.
• A notary public seal and signature cannot be affixed to a document without the correct notarial wording.