Sunday, January 17, 2010

Can a notarial certificate contain elements of both a jurat and an acknowledgment, such as "Sworn to, subscribed and acknowledged before me..."?

Never, ever, ever! If you see a certificate like this, you should ask the signer or the document preparer which they want - an oath or an acknowledgment - because the law does not authorize notaries to combine both acts in one certificate. If the signer or document preparer doesn't know, or wants you to do both an oath and an acknowledgment, you should strike out the entire certificate and attach two separate certificates - first, a jurat, and second, an acknowledgment.

You should note that an "acknowledgment under oath" is not the equivalent of a jurat. See my article "What does the phrase "and who did/did not take an oath" mean, and what do I do with it?"



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