UNIFORM LAW ON NOTARIAL ACTS

1 UNIFORM LAW ON NOTARIAL ACTSD rafted by theNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERSON UNIFORM STATE LAWSand by itAPPROVED AND RECOMMENDED FOR ENACTMENTIN ALL THE STATESat itsANNUAL CONFERENCEMEETING IN ITS NINETY-FIRST YEARIN MONTEREY, CALIFORNIAJULY 30 AUGUST 6, 1982 WITH PREFATORY NOTE AND COMMENTSA pproved by the American Bar AssociationNew Orleans, Louisiana, February 9, 19832 The Committee that acted for the National Conference of Commissioners on UniformState Laws in preparing the UNIFORM Law on NOTARIAL acts was as follows:ROBERT A. STEIN, University of Minnesota, School of Law, Minneapolis, MN 55455,ChairmanWILLIAM S.

2 ARNOLD, Drawer A, Crossett, AR 71635 WADE BRORBY, 306 S. Gillette Ave., Gillette, WY 82716 WILLIAM GORDON, Suite 610, 100 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701 LINDA JUDD, Box 999, Post Falls, ID 83854 JAMES A. SHOWERS, 62 W. Elm, Hillsboro, TX 76645 FRED L. MORRISON, University of Minnesota, School of Law, Minneapolis, MN 55455,ReporterM. KING HILL, JR., 6 Floor, 100 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21202, President, Member ExthOfficioWILLIAM J. PIERCE, University of Michigan, School of Law, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, ExecutiveDirectorROBERT H. CORNELL, 25 Floor, 50 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111, Chairman,thDivision B, Member Ex OfficioReview CommitteeFRANK W.

3 DAYKIN, Legislative Building, Capitol Complex, Carson City, NV 89710,ChairmanCHARLES W. JOINER, Box 7880, Ann Arbor, MI 48107 ORLAN L. PRESTEGARD, Room 411 West, State Capitol Building, Madison, WI 53702 Advisors to Special Committee onUniform Law on NOTARIAL ActsHENRY M. KITTLESON, American College of Real Estate LawyersFRANK R. ROSINY, American Bar AssociationMILTON G. VALERA, National Notary AssociationCopies of all UNIFORM and Model acts issued by the Conference may be obtained from:NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF COMMISSIONERSON UNIFORM STATE LAWS645 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 510 Chicago, IL 606113 UNIFORM LAW ON NOTARIAL ACTSC ommissioners Prefatory NoteThe UNIFORM Act is designed to define the content and form of common NOTARIAL acts andto provide for the recognition of such acts performed in other jurisdictions.

4 It thus replaces twoUniform Laws, the UNIFORM Acknowledgment Act (as amended), and the later UniformRecognition of Acknowledgments Act. The original Acknowledgment Act served to define thecontent and form of acknowledgments. The Recognition Act later provided for more specificrules for recognition of acknowledgments and other NOTARIAL acts from outside of the state,although its title was more narrowly statute is thus a consolidation, extension, and modernization of the two previousacts. It consolidates the provisions of the two acts relating to acknowledgments of instruments. It extends the coverage of the earlier act to include other NOTARIAL acts , such as taking ofverifications and attestation of addition, the act seeks to simplify and clarify proof of the authority of NOTARIAL LAW ON NOTARIAL acts 1.

5 Used in this [Act]:(1) " NOTARIAL act" means any act that a notary public of this State is authorized to perform,and includes taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking averification upon oath or affirmation, witnessing or attesting a signature, certifying or attesting acopy, and noting a protest of a negotiable instrument.(2) "Acknowledgment" means a declaration by a person that the person has executed aninstrument for the purposes stated therein and, if the instrument is executed in a representativecapacity, that the person signed the instrument with proper authority and executed it as the act ofthe person or entity represented and identified therein.

6 (3) "Verification upon oath or affirmation" means a declaration that a statement is truemade by a person upon oath or affirmation.(4) "In a representative capacity" means:(i) for and on behalf of a corporation, partnership, trust, or other entity, as anauthorized officer, agent, partner, trustee, or other representative;(ii) as a public officer, personal representative, guardian, or other representative,in the capacity recited in the instrument;(iii) as an attorney in fact for a principal; or(iv) in any other capacity as an authorized representative of another.(5) " NOTARIAL officer" means a notary public or other officer authorized to perform UNIFORM Law defines common NOTARIAL acts and provides for the recognition ofnotarial acts performed in other states and in foreign jurisdictions.

7 It does not prescribe thequalifications of notaries public or other officers empowered to perform NOTARIAL functions, nordoes it establish the procedure for their selection or term of Act uses the term " NOTARIAL officer" to describe notaries public and other personshaving the power to perform " NOTARIAL acts ." These NOTARIAL acts are described in Section 2. Section 3 then describes who, in addition to notaries public , is a NOTARIAL officer in this state; Sections 4, 5, and 6 provide for the recognition of acts of NOTARIAL officers appointed by otherjurisdictions. 2. NOTARIAL acts .(a) In taking an acknowledgment, the NOTARIAL officer must determine, either frompersonal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the person appearing before the officerand making the acknowledgment is the person whose true signature is on the instrument.

8 (b) In taking a verification upon oath or affirmation, the NOTARIAL officer must determine,either from personal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the person appearing beforethe officer and making the verification is the person whose true signature is on the statementverified.(c) In witnessing or attesting a signature the NOTARIAL officer must determine, either frompersonal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the signature is that of the personappearing before the officer and named therein.(d) In certifying or attesting a copy of a document or other item, the NOTARIAL officer mustdetermine that the proffered copy is a full, true, and accurate transcription or reproduction of thatwhich was copied.

9 (e) In making or noting a protest of a negotiable instrument the NOTARIAL officer must6determine the matters set forth in [Section 3-509, UNIFORM Commercial Code].(f) A NOTARIAL officer has satisfactory evidence that a person is the person whose truesignature is on a document if that person (i) is personally known to the NOTARIAL officer, (ii) isidentified upon the oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to the notarialofficer or (iii) is identified on the basis of identification section authorizes common NOTARIAL acts . It does not limit other acts which notariesmay perform, if authorized by other (a) specifies what a NOTARIAL officer certifies by taking an acknowledgment.

10 The NOTARIAL officer certifies to two facts: (1) the identity of the person who made theacknowledgment and (2) the fact that this person signed the document as a deed (or other specificinstrument), and not as some other form of writing. The personal physical appearance of theacknowledging party before the NOTARIAL officer is required. An acknowledgment, as defined inSection 1(2) is a statement that the person has signed and executed an instrument; it is not theact of signature itself. Hence a person may appear before the NOTARIAL officer to acknowledge aninstrument which that person had previously subsection (b) specifies the requisites of taking of a verification on oath oraffirmation.