The National Notary Bulletin

Can I Use One Notarial Certificate For Multiple Signers?

By NNA Staff on November 1, 2017

I have a single-page document that requires two different people to sign in two separate places (two people, four signatures). Can I use one acknowledgment form for both people and all four signatures? — S. R., California

Perhaps. If one acknowledgment certificate appears on the document at the very end and all signers are present, you may safely conclude the one certificate may be used. If the certificate is not present, the decision to use one or more certificates should be made by the party issuing the document. If not all signers are present, you’ll need to use additional certificates if you notarize the signatures of these individuals later.

Hotline answers are based on the laws in the state where the question originated and may not reflect the laws of other states. If in doubt, always refer to your own state statutes. – The Editors

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donovan.hastie@yahoo.com

04 May 2018

I have a document to notarize that will have 11 signatures. All on one document. There is not a certificate on the document, I will have to attach one. I have been asked to do an Acknowledgement. This is in California so I must have every signer present when they sign. All the signers are directors of the company and all work in the same building. I can get them all to sign on the same day but at different times throughout the day. Do I need to have them all sign at the same time, call them all together at one time or can I get their signatures at different times throughout the same day? Also, can I make an acknowledgement certificate (in MS Word) that gives me room to add all their names? Because the current certificate I have does not have room for 11 names. However, I believe I can put one together in Word and give it the proper wording based on the acknowledgement I normally use. I do not want to skirt the edge of what is legal, I want to be well within the law here. I do not have a lot of experience with notarizations in general, my notarizations are few and far between. I need help, here, I need to get this done by Monday the 7th of May 2018. Thank you for any and all help!!

National Notary Association

04 May 2018

Hello. If you choose to have different signers appear before you for notarizations at different times during the day, each appearance would be a different notarization and you would have to use separate certificate wording for each notarization scheduled. Any certificate wording you use for documents filed in California must comply with the wording requirements in California Civil Code 1189. If you need additional assistance, you can contact our Hotline Counselors by phone at 1-888-876-0827 or hotline@nationalnotary.org.

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