Why should i notarize a letter

This screening detects and deters document fraud, and helps protect the personal rights and property of private citizens from forgers, identity thieves and exploiters of the vulnerable. Every day the process of notarization prevents countless forged, coerced and incompetent signings that would otherwise overwhelm our court system and dissolve the network of trust allowing our civil society to function.

An acknowledgment is typically performed on documents controlling or conveying ownership of valuable assets. Such documents include real property deeds, powers of attorney and trusts. For an acknowledgment, the signer must appear in person at the time of notarization to be positively identified and to declare "acknowledge" that the signature on the document is his or her own, that it was willingly made and that the provisions in the document are intended to take effect exactly as written.

A jurat is typically performed on evidentiary documents that are critical to the operation of our civil and criminal justice system. Such documents include affidavits, depositions and interrogatories. For a jurat, the signer must appear in person at the time of notarization to sign the document and to speak aloud an oath or affirmation promising that the statements in the document are true.

An oath is a solemn pledge to a Supreme Being; an affirmation is an equally solemn pledge on one's personal honor. A person who takes an oath or affirmation in connection with an official proceeding may be prosecuted for perjury should he or she fail to be truthful. A copy certification is performed to confirm that a reproduction of an original document is true, exact and complete.

Such originals might include college degrees, passports and other important one-and-only personal papers which cannot be copy-certified by a public record office such as a bureau of vital statistics and which the holder must submit for some purpose but does not want to part with for fear of loss.

This type of notarization is not an authorized notarial act in every state, and in the jurisdictions where it is authorized, may be executed only with certain kinds of the original document.

Each state and U. While these different notarial laws are largely congruent when it comes to the most common notarizations, namely acknowledgments and jurats, there are unusual laws in a number of states. Check my Satisfactory Academic Progress Status? Track my Student Loans? Look for scholarships? How do I? Find a job? Complete an I9? Sign up for Direct Deposit?

See when I get paid? Post a job? Contact Student Employment? Report an accessibility problem To report another problem, please contact marquettecentral marquette. Location Marquette Central W. Reiniger estimates that approximately 4. That figure does not include the millions of attorneys who also are vested with that authority by virtue of being lawyers in certain states, such as Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Some states, including California, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, allow electronic notarizations, or e-notarizations. An e-notarization occurs when a notary public affixes a digital signature to an electronic document. The fundamental rules governing notarization still apply, including the requirement that document signers appear before the notary.

An electronic document is one that exists in a computer-readable format rather than merely as printed words on a physical page. Examples are word processing documents, e-mail messages, PDF files and even documents scanned into the hard drive of a computer.

Tami Kamin-Meyer is an Ohio attorney also licensed in federal courts and the U. Supreme Court. She is a freelance writer and Ohio correspondent for Legalnewsline. What Is the Difference? How Does the Court Determine Custody? When your marriage ends in divorce and there are minor ch Read More. Our mission at GetLegal is to develop a family of sites that constitute the most useful, informative, reliable and exciting collection of legal resources on the web. We are constantly working to expand and improve many resources we offer to legal professionals and the public.