Notarial Acts & Certificates Explained
If your document is missing a notarial certificate, you will need to select one of the options below.
In an acknowledgment, the notary validates the signer’s identity and the signer confirms to the notary that the signature is his or her signature. Usually the signer signs the document in front of the notary. The notary also asks the signer to confirm that he or she understands the document and is signing it freely and without coercion. An acknowledgment is the most common notarial act.
A jurat is used when a document must have the truthfulness of its contents confirmed under oath. To complete a jurat, the notary validates the signer’s identity and then places the signer under oath. The signer swears or affirms that the statements in the document are true of his or her personal knowledge and then signs the document in front of the notary.
An oath or affirmation is a spoken promise that you are swearing or affirming to uphold. This might include an oath of office or an oath before testifying in court or at a deposition. Ordinarily, the only oaths or affirmations used by notaries on the Proof platform are those which involve confirming the truth of a document’s contents with a Jurat.