Wisconsin Office of the Secretary of State

Chapter 3
Notarial Acts

Notary Public Requirements

Signing and stamping a document

The Wisconsin Statutes require your handwritten signature when you notarize. This means you may not use a rubber signature stamp, photocopy, or preprint your notarial signature on documents you are notarizing. Even if another person has power of signature to sign your name for various purposes, that person does not have the authority to perform notarial acts in your name. Do not allow anyone else to use your notary seal.
Additionally, each notarial act must be attested by an original impression of your notary seal/stamp. Do not preprint or photocopy your notary stamp/seal onto documents you will notarize.
Performing a notarial act requires more than just affixing a notary seal and signature. Simply signing and stamping a document is meaningless. There are several specific types of notarial acts; you must know and use the proper ceremony and written certificate for the type of act you are requested to perform. However, you should not tell your customer what type of notarial act is required to "notarize" their document unless you are a notary public who is also an attorney.

Identifying the Signer

Whenever you perform a notarial act, you must personally know the signer, or identify the signer upon oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to you, or ask the signer for satisfactory identification. It is your responsibility to determine what you consider to be "satisfactory identification". A current driver's license, photo identification card, picture credit card, student ID card, or employment ID may be enough proof for you to establish a customer's identity. Remember, you are personally liable for each notarial act. If a customer cannot provide adequate identification, or makes excuses for having no ID, ask them to return later with proper identification, or to find a notary who knows them personally. Customers may know notaries through their insurance agents, financial institutions, schools or churches.

Signing Documents in a Notary Public's Presence

Check the wording in the jurat (written notarial certificate for oaths) or other written notarial statement. If the words say "Signed before me....", "Subscribed before me ....", "Subscribed and sworn to before me....", or similar language, the person MUST sign the document in your presence. (Note: "subscribed" is another way of stating "signed".) If the document is already signed, have the person sign again in your presence, above or below the other signature.
If the document is an acknowledgement, the signer must appear in person before you and confirm that the signature on the document is theirs. You must be certain, either from your own personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence that the person who appears is in fact the person whose signature is on the document. You should also compare an example of that person's signature with the signature on their document. You should personally know the signer, identify the signer upon the oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to you, or ask the signer for satisfactory identification. Of course, an acknowledgement also may be signed in your presence.

Preparing the jurat

If possible the jurat should be on the same piece of paper as the sworn statement; however, if there is not enough room at the end of a document to insert a jurat, you may place it on a separate sheet of paper and securely attach it to the sworn statement. When the jurat is not written on the document to which it applies, a statement on the document should indicate that a jurat is attached. The jurat should bear a statement identifying the document to which it is attached.

Notary Public Definitions

Affidavit:: An affidavit is a written document made by a person who swears, under oath or affirmation, that the statements in the document are true.



Affiant:: An affiant is the person who makes and swears to the affidavit.



Jurat:: A jurat is the name given to the notary's written certificate, which appears after the signature of the person who has given an oath, or has made a sworn statement. The jurat specifically recites the date it is completed, the location in which it is written, and the name of the person taking the oath, or swearing to a statement. As a notary public, you administer an oath to the person executing the document, make a statement to witness his/her signature, sign the document and affix a legible impression of your seal/stamp, and include your commission expiration date.



Oath:: An oath is a solemn pledge attesting to the truth of given statements. An oath requires swearing, (and may be understood to call upon a Supreme Being as a witness), and is subject to penalties of perjury.



Affirmation:: An affirmation is a solemn pledge attesting to the truth of given statements. An affirmation does not require swearing, but is still subject to penalties of perjury.



Acknowledgement:: An acknowledgment is a formal declaration made by a person, stating that at the time that person signed a document, it was signed voluntarily, and with an understanding of its nature and purpose. In an acknowledgement, a person is not swearing to the truth of statements, but is confirming that they voluntarily signed a document, and that they understood the nature and purpose of the document.

Chapter 3 Quiz


1.		In order to notarize a document you only have to sign it and attach your seal/stamp.
		True
		False


2.		What is a jurat?
		Someone on a jury
		A made-up word.
		A notary's written certificate on a sworn statement.
		A person who comes in for a notarization.


3.		An Affirmation is the same as an oath and the signing party must be sworn in.
		True
		False