Notary Public—What are They

This person is authorized by the local or state government to officially collect sworn statements, administer oaths, and witness signatures on legal documents. A notary in Slough will use their embossing tool to verify that they were present at the time the documents were signed. An embossing tool is their stamp and some states may not require the notary public to use them. You will need to check with your local or state government to see what they require. Most of the states will issue an identifying number that is unique to each notarized person to help prevent the fraudulent use of the embosser. No legal training is required to become a notary public. You can be granted notary public status by a public figure, like an attorney. To be recognized by the court, there are certain legal documents that have to be notarized. A notary public spends a lot of their time observing routine signatures. Many times the identities of the ones signing the documents are critical so a notary may spend some time g the names of the ones that will be involved in the signing of the document. To legally sign the papers, all parties that are involved in the signing of the document will have to provide the notary some type of official identification. This can be a birth certificate, driver’s license, passport, etc. This is needed to help make sure that the notary is comfortable notarizing their signatures on the documents. The notary public can charge a nominal fee for their services but it cannot be excessive. Some notaries work part-time of their homes while other use their skills as an added service to the job they already do. This is particularly true if they work for a bank, law office, or real estate office. Some may even for a store as a cashier, or other position and the owner of the store can legally post a notice saying that notary services are available. There is one misconception in which people think that the embossing stamp and/or official signature makes the document ‘legal and true’. The truth is that being a notary Slough, you cannot give anyone legal advice unless the notary public is also a licensed attorney. What the notary does is ask the parties signing the documents for a sworn oath of authenticity before they sign the documents, which they witness. In court proceedings, the document can still be declared unenforceable or fraudulent. The notary can only attest to the identities of the ones who signed the document and that they affirmed their authenticity at the time the papers were notarized. A notary does have the option to reject notarizing a document if they suspect fraud or cannot verify the signer(s) identification.