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What California Notaries need to know about Notary certificates

A California flag with three documents

Updated 2-5-24. California has very specific requirements for its Notary certificates, and they often cause confusion. Here’s an overview of what Golden State Notaries need to know when completing certificates.

Mandatory California certificate language

When you are completing any notarization on a document that will be filed in California, you must use the certificate wording exactly as prescribed by state law. The certificate wording for the following notarial acts are listed in the statutes below, which can be found in the NNA’s California Notary Law Summary:

  • Acknowledgments: California Civil Code Section 1189
  • Jurats: California Government Code Section 8202
  • Proofs Of Execution By Subscribing Witness: California Civil Code Section 1195

Under some circumstances, a California Notary notarizing a signature on a document to be filed in another state may be allowed to complete that state’s acknowledgment wording instead (see “Out-Of-State Acknowledgments” below).

However, California Notaries may never use another state’s jurat or proof of execution certificate wording, no matter where the document is to be filed. All jurats and proofs of execution performed by California Notaries must use the certificate wording exactly as prescribed by state law.

The California certificate consumer notice

California’s mandatory certificate wording for acknowledgments, jurats or proofs of execution must include the following consumer notice above the notarial certificate:

“A Notary Public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.”

While there are no specific fonts or formats required for the consumer notice, it must meet the following requirements:

  1. The notice must be printed legibly, and the wording must appear exactly as shown above.
  2. The notice must be enclosed in a box.
  3. The notice must appear above the venue wording in the certificate (“State of California, County of ______ “). NNA members may download complimentary California certificates as a membership benefit by accessing their member profiles at NationalNotary.org, clicking “Notary Certificate Forms” under the Member Resources box and selecting “California” from the drop-down menu.

Out-of-state acknowledgments

California Notaries often are asked to notarize a signature on a document that will be filed in another state or jurisdiction that includes out-of-state acknowledgment wording that differs from California wording. You may complete an acknowledgment using the out-of-state wording as long as the following three requirements are met:

  1. The notarization being requested is an acknowledgment.
  2. The document is being filed outside California.
  3. The certificate wording does not require the Notary to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law.

In all other situations, a California Notary must use the state’s prescribed notarial certificate wording.

Correcting Notary certificates in California

If you make an error while filling out a certificate, the correction must be made before the notarization is completed. According to the Secretary of State’s Notary Public Handbook, correcting certificates after the notarization is finished is prohibited.

If you spot an error during the notarization process, you may correct the certificate using the following steps:

  1. Line through the incorrect information
  2. Write out the correct information
  3. Initial and date the correction
  4. Make a note in your journal entry

Never let anyone else correct a notarial certificate you have completed, and never send an unattached or blank notarial certificate to anyone in order to correct a past certificate error.

David Thun is the Editorial Manager at the National Notary Association.


Related Articles:

New CA certificate law: Seven FAQs answered

Avoid common Notary certificate mistakes


Additional Resources:

Notary Certificates


View All: Best Practices

24 Comments

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Jose Ramos

03 Jul 2017

David - thank you for providing this information regarding certificates. In the "out-of-state acknowledgements" section above, item (3), did you mean to say that "The certificate wording does NOT require..." or is the language correct as written?

National Notary Association

03 Jul 2017

Hello, thank you for your message. The sentence should read "does not." We've corrected the article and apologize for any confusion.

Lori

03 Jul 2017

In the answer to out of state notaries, under the 3 requirements that must be met, #3 states "the certificate wording DOES require the notary to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity, etc). Don't you mean to say that it DOESN'T require the notary to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity etc? I'm just a little confused about this.

National Notary Association

03 Jul 2017

Hello, thank you for your message. The sentence should read "does not." We've corrected the article and apologize for any confusion.

Lisa

07 Jul 2017

I am a Notary in the State of California. Recently I was asked to notarize real estate purchase documents for a property located outside of the State of California. The packet was sent Federal Express to the buyers that reside in California, but was going to be filed in the State of Arizona. Because the documents did not include the California wording, I attached an All Purpose Acknowledgment to each of the signatures. Could I have avoided that and notarized the documents provided by the title company?

National Notary Association

07 Jul 2017

Hello. As described in the article, a CA Notary may use an out-of-state acknowledgment certificate if: 1. The notarization being requested is an acknowledgment. 2. The document is being filed outside California. 3. The certificate wording does not require the Notary to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law.

Gwendolyn Crump

28 Feb 2020

Can a notary in Louisiana allowed to notarized a document n Los Angeles Ca to be filed in Ca?

National Notary Association

04 Mar 2020

Hello. Louisiana Notaries are not authorized to travel outside the borders of their own state to perform notarizations.

DENISE RAMOS

05 Jun 2020

Can you notarize documents from Virginia beach,Virginia? Affiant , acknowledgement , jurat & Identification form as well?

National Notary Association

05 Jun 2020

Hello. To help us answer your question, can you please confirm what state you are commissioned in?

denise ramos

05 Jun 2020

I am commissioned in California , I was also confused because there documents had the wording notary public/attorney ? I don't think I would feel comfortable signing that form

National Notary Association

08 Jun 2020

Based on what you’ve described, we think it would be best if you contacted our Hotline team by phone and provided them with a more detailed description of the situation. The NNA Hotline: 1-888-876-0827 Mon – Fri: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PT) If you’re not an NNA Member or Hotline Subscriber, they will provide you with a one-time courtesy call.

Blanca Henderson

25 Aug 2020

I am commission in Texas, and I am performing a Jurat from California Real Estate what is the wording that I have to use?

National Notary Association

01 Sep 2020

Based on what you’ve described, we think it would be best if you contacted our Hotline team by phone and provided them with a more detailed description of the situation. The NNA Hotline: 1-888-876-0827 Mon – Fri: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PT) If you’re not an NNA Member or Hotline Subscriber, they will provide you with a one-time courtesy call.

Vivian

30 Dec 2020

So what should we do if the deed of trust is to be filed and DOES have language that notary is “to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law”? Are we able to cross out capacity (trustee, attorney in fact, CFO) on their deed of trust? Or do we just attach an all purpose acknowledgement? What if that state/county requires the language on their certificate? (I am commissioned in CA)

National Notary Association

05 Jan 2021

Hello. The Notary should use a California attachment and only enter the name of the signer and nothing about capacity.

Denise Rydberg

11 Jan 2021

I was recently asked to notarize a document from Poland. The customer was insistent that I split my seal between my my acknowledgement and their document. I told him that I could not do that, that my seal needed to be whole with the border unbroken. Was I correct?

National Notary Association

02 Feb 2021

Hello. Yes, you were correct. Your seal impression must be made, in full, where your signature and Notary certificate wording appear.

An On

21 Feb 2022

Are there specific formatting requirements as far as the spacing of the text, text alignment, shape/size of the notice box, etc. go? I'm trying to squeeze an acknowledgment certificate into the bottom of a 1 page document. The notice is enclosed in a box at the top, the wording is the same, everything is legible. It is similar to this format, but I've corrected it to include the proper wording (he/she/they, his/her/their): https://lavote.gov/docs/rrcc/documents/Revocable_TDD.pdf

National Notary Association

22 Mar 2022

The only issues the law addresses with regarding to the consumer notification statement is that it be at the top of the notarial wording and that it must be contained within a rectangular box. It does not address text size or alignment.

Bri

10 May 2023

Are California notaries allowed to complete an acknowledgment that lists the signer as "John Smith, an individual" or are the words "an individual" not allowed to be included in the notary acknowledgment?

National Notary Association

17 May 2023

Based on what you’ve described, we think it would be best if you contacted our Hotline team by phone and provided them with a more detailed description of the situation. The NNA Hotline: 1-888-876-0827 Mon – Fri: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PT) If you’re not an NNA Member or Hotline Subscriber, they will provide you with a one-time courtesy call.

Rebecca

12 Sep 2023

I am a CA Notary and a different state is asking to provide the signers title of their position- "I know the acknowledgments are pre-save/pre-printed template but for this loan can we please revise the template to add the Affiant’s title?" Is this allowed since it is out of state?

National Notary Association

15 Sep 2023

Based on what you’ve described, we think it would be best if you contacted our Hotline team by phone and provided them with a more detailed description of the situation. The NNA Hotline: 1-888-876-0827 Mon – Fri: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (PT) If you’re not an NNA Member or Hotline Subscriber, they will provide you with a one-time courtesy call.

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