Notary Statement

A notary statement or oath is a solemn declaration that a statement or act is true. Notary Statements or Oaths are often used to confirm a written statement, known as an affidavit, for use in court, estate or land title transactions.

A notary public must positively identify the person requesting notarization. A notary has positive identification if the person:

(a) is personally known to the notary;

(b) is identified upon the oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to the notary; or

(c) is identified on the basis of identification documents.

Verification Upon Oath of Affirmation, sometimes referred to as a “jurat,” verification upon oath or affirmation is a declaration that a statement is true and was made by a person upon oath affirmation. The person requesting this notarial act must personally appear before the notary and sign the document in the presence of the notary. The notary public is required to administer an oath.

Specific Types and Forms

There are several types of notary statements that you will see often. I have described several here with links to forms you can use.


OATH

An oath is a statement or affirmation of support for a position or honesty. A typical oath looks like this:

Notary Public's Oath of Office

State of ___________________ ) )SS:County of ___________ )

I, Joe Q. Notary, having been duly appointed and commissioned a Notary Public in and for the State of ___________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity.

AFFIDAVIT

An affidavit is a voluntary, sworn written statement.

The name of the affiant, the person giving the statement, must be mentioned in the affidavit and the affiant is required to sign the affidavit in the notary’s presence.

An Affidavit would look something like this:

State of ________________ ) )SS:County of _______________ )

Before me, the undersigned notary public, this day, personally, appeared______________ to me known, who being duly sworn according to law, deposes the following:

(Affiant’s Statement)

___________________________ (Signature of Affiant)

Subscribed and sworn to before me this__________day of_______________, 20___.

___________________________ Notary Public

My Commission Expires: _____________________

CERTIFICATE

A notary public may be asked to certify that a document is an accurate copy of an original document, or that a statement is true.

The notary public must make sure that the copy is exactly the same as the original. To do this, you must have the boththe original and copy in front of you for inspection.

Notaries public may not certify certain Federal, State or County records. Only the agencies where these records are filed may certify copies, because they alone hold the original documentsor records. This would include the following types of documents:

* Birth records

* Death records

* Marriage records

* Corporate records, i.e. Articles of Incorporation