Terms & Definitions

Acknowledge: To recognize as one's own. In the Notary act called an acknowledgment, the document signer acknowledges before a Notary that a signature on a document is their own. 

Acknowledgment: Act in which a Notary certifies having positively identified a document signer who personally appeared before the Notary and admitted having signed the document.

Administer: To give formally, as providing an oath or affirmation.

Administrative Penalty: This is the punishment imposed by authorities who regulate Notaries through revocation, suspension, or denial of a commission and, in some states, fines or mandatory education.

Advertisement: Paid public announcement intended to sell a product, service, or idea.

Affiant: Signer of an affidavit.

Affidavit: A written statement signed before a Notary by a person who swears or affirms to the Notary that the statement is true.

Affidavit of Citizenship: A written statement that may be notarized in which the signer declares under oath that they are a U.S. citizen.

Affirm: To make an affirmation; to make a solemn promise on one's own honor with no reference to a Supreme Being.

Affirmant, Affirmation-Taker: The one who makes an affirmation.

Affirmation: This is a spoken, solemn promise of one's personal honor without reference to the Supreme Being that performs before a Notary about a jurat or other Notary act or as a Notary act in its own right.

Age of Majority: The age at which persons can exercise all customary legal rights — varying from 18 to 21 years, depending on state law. It is also called a legal age.

Agent's Commission: Fee for performing as a representative or advocate on behalf of another person.

AKA: Abbreviation for "also known as"; otherwise named.

Also Known As: Otherwise named; AKA.

Alteration: This is creating a false identification document by changing or altering the content of a valid ID. 

Annexed: Attached or accompanying.

Appointment: Refers to the written authorization to perform notarial acts issued by a state's governor, secretary of state, or other empowering official. In some states and jurisdictions, it is called a commission.

Apostille: An authenticating certificate required by the Hague Convention that replaces a traditional chain of certificates.

Attorney in Fact: This person has the authority to sign for another. 

Authentication: Process of proving the genuineness of the signature and seal of a Notary or other official, usually through the attachment of a certificate of authority.

Authority: Legal empowerment to sign for another person, organization, or legal entity, as in the case of an attorney in fact, trustee, corporate officer, partner, and others.

Awareness: Being able to understand what is happening and to act responsibly.

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Beneficial Interest: Advantage.

Bilingual: Able to read, write, and speak two languages.

Bond, Notary: Written guarantee that money up to a limit payable by a surety to a person financially damaged by a Notary's misconduct if the Notary fails to do so. 

Bound Pages: Refer to the pages that are securely fastened together to deter their unauthorized removal or replacement.

Capacity: Specific role of a representative signer — an attorney in fact, trustee, corporate officer, partner, or other — when signing for another person, organization, or legal entity.

Certificate Form: Notarial certificate wording on a separate sheet of paper attached to a document when there is no wording provided, when the provided certificate wording does not comply with state requirements, when there is no room for the seal on the document, or when another Notary has already used the preprinted certificate.

Certificate, Notary: Wording completed, signed, and sealed by a Notary that states the particulars of notarization and appears at the end of a signed document or on a paper attached to it.

Certificate of Authority: Paper stating that the signature and seal on an attached document belong to a legitimate Notary or other official.

Certificate of Capacity: Certificate of authority.

Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship: Documents that authenticate the granting of U.S. citizenship that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issue.

Certificate of Prothonotary: Certificate of authority issued by a prothonotary — the equivalent of a county clerk in some states.

Certified Copy: Refers to a document certified by an official, such as a Notary, to reproduce accurately the original.

Chain Certification: Traditional authentication procedure that requires sequential attachment of certificates of authority, each validating the genuineness of the preceding one.

Chain of Personal Knowledge: Knowledge of identity to link a Notary with the signer through a credible identifying witness to establish the signer's identity. The Notary personally knows and can identify the credible witness, and the credible witness personally knows and can identify the document signer. 

Chronological: In the sequence of occurrence.

Civil Lawsuit: Refers to the legal action taken by a private person, corporation, or other legal entity to recover losses caused by a Notary's alleged misconduct.

Civil Penalty: Payment of funds by a Notary resulting from a lawsuit to recover financial losses claimed to have been caused by the Notary's misconduct.

Combined Acknowledgment Certificate: Acknowledgment certificate wording indicating a person signed in two or more representative capacities.

Commission: Authorize to perform notarial acts; written authorization to perform Notary acts issued by a state's governor, secretary of state, or other empowering official. It refers to an appointment in some states and jurisdictions.

Commission Revocation: Voiding the powers of a Notary.

Commission Suspension: Voiding the powers of a Notary for a set period.

Conservator: A guardian or a person with the lawful power and duty to manage the affairs of another individual.

Conspiracy: Refers to the association of persons to commit a crime or unlawful plot.

Consulate: The office of an official, called a consul, appointed by their home country to reside in a foreign nation and care for the interests of that government's citizens through notarization, authentication of documents, and other functions.

Copy Certification: Act in which a Notary certifies that a copy of a document is a true and accurate reproduction of the original.

Corporate Officer: Agent appointed to conduct business for a corporation.

Corporation: Legal entity with many rights of an individual that may own property and sign contracts through its officers and agents.

Counterfeit: False document made from scratch to imitate an authentic one.

County Auditor: Refers to the county recorder in some states.

County Clerk: Official whose duties may include keeping a file of the bonds and signed oaths of office of Notaries, issuing certificates of authority for those Notaries, and accepting custody of journals surrendered by those Notaries upon retirement. See also "prothonotary."

County Recorder: Official who registers deeds and other public records documents.

Court Reporter: A person whose training in stenography qualifies him or her to transcribe spoken words into such form as a deposition. Also sometimes called a shorthand reporter.

Credible Identifying Witness: A believable person who identifies a document signer to the Notary after taking an oath or affirmation. The credible identifying witness must personally know the document signer and also be personally known by the Notary. 

Credible Witness: Credible identifying witness.

Crime: Punishable Law violation, in the case of a misdemeanor, by a fine, confinement in a jail, or both, in the case of a felony, usually by imprisonment in a penitentiary.

Custodian or Document Custodian: Keeper of a document.

Date of Document: The date the document was created or signed; in the case of multiple signers of a document with no date of creation, date of the most recent or final signing.

Declaration of Intention to Become a Citizen: This document issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services used to become a U.S. citizen.

Deed: Document transferring ownership of property and requiring notarization.

Defendant: Person accused of causing damages and from whom compensation is sought in a lawsuit; the person sued.

Deponent: A person who, under oath or affirmation, gives oral testimony transcribed for use in a legal proceeding.

Deposition: Written statement used in a lawsuit transcribed from words spoken by a person (deponent) under oath or affirmation and usually signed by this person.

Depose: To make a deposition; to testify under oath or affirmation orally or in writing.

Disability: Physical, intellectual, or legal condition that renders a person incapable of performing certain functions such as writing, communicating, and handling their own affairs. 

Discretion: Freedom to act or judge oneself, aware and mindful of the consequences.

Discrimination: This is unequal treatment without due and lawful cause.

Dishonor: Refusal to pay the sum of money promised or requested.

Disqualifying Interest: Advantage or potential advantage resulting in ineligibility to perform a Notary act.

Document Custodian: Permanent keeper of an original document.

Emancipated Minor: A person under the age of majority who is not under the control and responsibility of their parents.

Embosser Seal: A press-like device that imprints a raised image into a paper surface to form a Notary seal.

Endorsement: Refers to a public expression of approval.

Errors and Omissions Insurance: This is the contract between a Notary and an indemnity company whereby, in the event of a lawsuit against the Notary resulting from certain acts in performing a notarization, the company absorbs the Notary's costs and financial liabilities up to an agreed limit.

Ethics: Principles of good conduct and professional responsibility; moral values.

False Certificate: A Notary wording that contains incorrect information.

Flag: Jargon term for a certificate of authority.

Foregoing: Preceding.

Forgery: Refers to a false signature, writing, document, or other creation made to imitate a genuine thing; the act of making such a false creation.

Fraud: Refers to a deception aimed at causing a person unknowingly to surrender money, property, rights, or advantages without compensation.

Fraudulent: Deliberately false or deceptive.

Green Card: Resident identification document (not in green color) issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Guardian: A person with the lawful power and duty to manage the affairs of another individual; conservator.

Hague Convention: Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents is a treaty signed by more than 90 nations, including the United States, that simplifies authentication of notarized documents sent between nations.

Hand: Signature.

Holographic: Handwritten.

Identification: Knowing who a person is without reasonable doubt or suspicion.

Identification Document (ID Card): Refers to a document or card that establishes the bearer's identity. Examples include passports, driver's licenses, and nondriver's IDs.

Illiteracy: Inability to read and write.

Immigration: The act of entering a country to become a legal resident, permanent or temporary.

Immigration Consultant: The one who advises and assists another in the legal process of immigrating to the United States, especially in preparing the necessary paperwork. This person is also called an immigration forms specialist, immigration expert, and immigration counselor.

Immigration Document: A document used to become a legal resident of the United States, such as the Affidavit of Support.

Impartiality: State of being unbiased, specifically, to have no motive but to perform notarial duties legally and ethically.

Impartial Witness: Observer without bias; one with no financial or beneficial interest in the current transaction. 

Impostor: Person with false identity.

Imposture: Pretending to have another identity.

Inking Seal: A device that imprints ink on paper to form a photocopiable Notary seal.

Interpreter: A person who explains or translates.

Instrument: Document.

Intellectual Disability: A mental condition resulting from a lack of education (illiteracy) or intellectual incapacity (low IQ) that can make signing or understanding a document impossible.

IQ: An intelligence quotient, a measure of intelligence.

Journal, Notary: Official record book of notarizations a Notary Public performs.

Journal Entry: Information recorded in a journal describing a particular notarization.

Journal of Notary Acts: Detailed, chronological record of the official acts of a Notary Public.

Judicial Official: A public officer who uses considerable judgment or discretion in performing official duties.

Jurat: Act in which a Notary certifies having watched the signing of a document and administered an oath or affirmation.

Jurisdiction: A geographic area — a state or county — where a Notary Public is authorized to perform acts.

Lamination: This is a plastic protective covering.

Layperson's Commonsense Judgment: This refers to a decision reached by a person of reasonable intelligence without extensive legal or medical training.

Legal Age: Age of majority.

Legal Disability: Legal status, including being under legal age or proven insanity, that can restrict or disqualify persons from signing on their behalf.

Legalization: Authentication.

Liability: Obligation to suffer the penalties for misconduct.

Lineal Relatives: These are family members of previous and subsequent generations in a direct line, such as parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on, as well as children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.

Living Will: Written statement of a person's wishes concerning medical treatment if the signer has an illness or injury and cannot give instructions on his or her own behalf.

Long-Form Certificate: Standard or unabridged Notary certificate wording.

L.S.: Abbreviation of the Latin term locus sigilli, meaning "place of the seal." A traditional element indicates where the seal imprint is to be placed.

Marker: The one who signs by mark.

Marriage: Act of uniting two people as spouses. These acts are performed by Notaries only in Maine, South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada.

Ministerial Function: Function performed according to statute, established procedure, or instructions from an authority, without exercise of independent judgment.

Ministerial Official: A public officer who follows written rules without having to use significant judgment or discretion. A Notary is a ministerial official.

Minor: A person who has not reached the age of majority and, therefore, is not considered legally competent to handle their own affairs.

Moral Turpitude: Conduct contrary to expected standards of honesty, morality, justice, or modesty; depravity.

N.A.: Not applicable. Also, "NA" and "N/A."

Natural Guardian: Parent of a child.

Naturalization: Becoming a citizen.

Negligence: Failure to use a degree of care expected of a person of ordinary prudence and intelligence.

Negotiable Instrument: A document containing a promise to pay a certain sum of money to the document's bearer.

Nondriver's ID: An identification document similar to a driver's license issued by most states upon request to nondrivers, such as juveniles and older people.

Notary Acts, Notarizations: Refers to witnessing duties of a Notary specified by law. Most often, the Notary's duties involve signed documents and require the Notary to ensure a signer's identity and to administer an oath or affirmation.

Notary Misconduct: It is the Notary's violation of a law, regulation, official directive, or expected standard of honesty, care, or good judgment, usually in executing a notarization.

Notary Public: A person of proven integrity appointed by a state government to serve the public as an impartial witness with duties specified by law. The Notary has the power to witness the signing of documents and to administer oaths. 

Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility: This is the code of conduct for Notaries developed by the National Notary Association, printed in Appendix 1 of the book.

Oath: Spoken, solemn promise to a Supreme Being made before a Notary related to a jurat or other Notary act or as a Notary act in its own right.

Oath of Office: Oath promising to discharge the duties of a particular office faithfully. 

Oath-Taker: One who takes an oath.

Original: Any document of which a reproduction has been made.

Out-of-Court Settlement: Agreement between the two sides of a lawsuit to end the dispute without imposition of an official ruling.

Paralegal: Trained professional who, under the supervision of an attorney, prepares documents and performs certain standard functions within a narrow area of discretion; legal assistant.

Partnership: Refers to a legal association of two or more partners who agree to share profits and losses in a business venture.

Party: Signer participating in a transaction; principal.

Perjury: The crime of making a false statement under oath or affirmation in an official proceeding.

Personal Appearance: Appearing in person, face to face, in the same room with the Notary at the time of the notarization — not before and not after.

Personal Honor: Individual conscience.

Personal Knowledge: Familiarity with an individual resulting from random interactions over a period sufficient to eliminate every reasonable doubt that the individual has the identity claimed.

Photocopy: Reproduction of a document made through exact photographic duplication of the original's image rather than through approximation of its image by hand-copying or other methods.

Photographically Reproducible: Image that can be readily photocopied or microfilmed.

Physical Disability: Incapacitating physical condition that can prevent writing (paralysis or a broken arm, for example) or impair communication (blindness, deafness).

PKA: Abbreviation for "professionally known as"; name one uses for professional business purposes; professional alias.

Plaintiff: This is the suer or the person or entity initiating a lawsuit to seek compensation for damages.

Positive Identification: Identification when knowing who a person is without reasonable doubt or suspicion.

Postdate: Deceptive and sometimes illegal act of dating a document with a time after the actual signing or execution.

Power of Attorney: Document granting authority for a person to act as attorney in Fact for another.

Predate: Deceptive and sometimes illegal act of dating a document with a time prior to that of the actual signing or execution.

Principal: A person who is a signer of/and party to a document. 

Primary ID: Government-issued identification document with at least a photograph of the bearer that may be the sole basis for identification by a Notary. 

Professionally Known As: Name one uses for professional business purposes; professional alias; PKA.

Proof: Abbreviation for evidence of execution by subscribing witness.

Proof of Execution by Subscribing Witness: Act where a person (called the subscribing witness) states under oath or affirmation before a Notary that he or she either watched another individual (called the principal) sign a document or take that person's acknowledgment of an already signed document. The witness must affix a signature to the document in addition to the principal's one.

Protest: Act in which a Notary certifies that a signer did not receive payment for a negotiable instrument.

Prove: Authenticate the signature of a principal signer not appearing before a Notary.

Prothonotary: This is the county clerk in some states.

Publicly Recorded: Placed in the public record or filed with a county recorder as authentic.

Quality of Officer: The term sometimes appears on Notary certificates and means "title of official," such as "Notary Public."

Reasonable Care: This is the degree of concern and attentiveness that a person of normal intelligence and responsibility would exhibit.

Recordable Docume: A document that may be recorded and filed with an official agency, such as a county recorder.

Representative Capacity: Status of signing or acting on behalf of another person or on behalf of a legal entity, such as a corporation, partnership, or trust.

Representative Signer: A person with the legal authority to sign for another individual, organization, or legal entity. Representative signing capacities include an attorney in fact, trustee, corporate officer, and partner.

Roman Alphabet: Characters of the alphabet used in English and other European languages.

Rules of Ethics: Refers to the widely accepted standards of honesty, fairness, and common sense. 

Satisfactory Evidence: A reliable identification document, or the sworn or affirmed statement of a credible identifying witness, that proves satisfactorily that an individual has the identity claimed.

Seal of Notary: Refers to the linking or embossing device that imprints the Notary's name, title (Notary Public), and jurisdiction on a notarized document. Also, it may include such information as the county where the commission and bond are on file, the commission number, and the date of commission expiration.

Secretarial Service: Function of typing or otherwise transcribing another person's speech or writing verbatim without altering, paraphrasing, or advising.

Short-Form Certificate: A notary certificate with abridged or condensed wording.

Shorthand Reporter: A person whose training in stenography qualifies him or her to transcribe spoken words into such form as a deposition. More often called a court reporter.

Signature by Mark: This is an "X" or other symbol made in place of a signature by a person unable to write and witnessed by a Notary and two other persons.

Signature by Proxy: Signature made on behalf of a principal by a Notary or third party who is not an attorney in fact. Notary signatures by proxy are allowed only in a few states.

Signature of Notary: A handwritten name of and by the Notary, matching exactly with the name on the Notary's commissioning paper.

Solicitation: This is the act of enticement, advertising with an offer.

SS. or SCT.: Abbreviations of the Latin word scilicet, meaning "in particular" or "namely." is the traditional element that appears after or to the right of the venue in a Notary certificate. 

Statement of Particulars: Wording in a Notary certificate that describes what the Notary has certified.

Statute of Limitations: The law sets a time limit for filing a lawsuit to recover damages or prosecuting for criminal misconduct.

Statutory Fee: Refers to the charge prescribed by law for services.

Subscribe: Sign.

Subscribing Witness: A person who either watches another (the principal) sign a document or takes that person's acknowledgment of an already-signed document and appears before the Notary on behalf of the principal. The subscribing witness must sign the document, in addition to the principal, to be personally known by the Notary and take an oath or affirmation stating that he or she witnessed the principal sign or accept the principal's acknowledgment.

Substantially Complies: In agreement, but not necessarily verbatim.

Supplemental ID: Identification document that, alone, does not provide positive identification of a signer due to its lack of a photograph, the ease with which it may be counterfeited, and the low level of security in its issuance.

Supreme Being: God or other entity considered the principal object of faith and worship.

Surety: Person or company obliged to pay money up to a limit if a bonded individual fails to do so; guarantor.

Swear: To make an oath, to state under oath, and to make a solemn promise to a Supreme Being.

Testator, Testatrix: Maker of a will. Testator is male; testatrix is female.

Testimonial: Expression of praise; endorsement.

Testimonium Clause: Wording in a Notary certificate whereby the Notary formally attests to the facts. Typically phrased as, "Witness my hand and official seal."

Translation: Conversion of written or spoken statements from one language to another.

Translator's Declaration: A written statement that a translation is accurate, signed by the person, known as a translator, who completes the translation.

Trust: Arrangement under law in which one person — called the trustee — manages property for the benefit of another person or a legal entity.

Type Face: Style of typed or printed letter characters.

Ultraviolet Light: A light source that produces radiation just short of visibility, causing otherwise invisible markings to be seen, also known as UV light or black light.

Unauthorized Practice of Law: Practice of law by a person who is not a legal professional. Illegal act of a non-attorney in helping another person to draft, prepare, complete, select, or understand a document or transaction.

Undue Influence: Attempt to cause a person to do what he or she would not do if left to act freely.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS: The United States government agency having authority over immigration. 

Venue: Wording in a Notary certificate indicates the state and county where the notarization occurred.

Verification: A sworn or affirmed declaration that a statement or pleading is true.

Vital Record: Refers to a birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate, or other public record of demographic data.

Will: Legal document containing one's wishes about the disposition of personal property after death; short for "last will and testament."

Willingness: Acting freely without duress or undue influence.

Within: Attached or accompanying.

Witness: One who has personally seen something to observe.