Resources > Glossary > Certificate

Glossary of Notary Public, Mortgage, Signing Agent, and Loan Signing Terms.

0-9  A  B  [C]  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  
Common Terms 1   Common Terms 2

Certificate

Phonetics: cer·tif·i·cate    \(ˌ)sər-'ti-fi-kət\

There are various types of notary certificates. Notary certificate wording can be embedded at the end of a document, or attached on a separate piece of paper. There are certificates with various types of formats and wordings. All certificates have to have some form of official notarial verbiage from the state (or within the state guidelines) where the notarization is taking place. There is separate wording for Acknowledgments, Jurats, Protests, Oaths, Affirmations, and other notary acts. Additionally, certificate forms may have some other helpful wording that the company who crafted the form thought would be helpful. Many Jurat forms have room for a statement that the affiant is to swear to. Copy certification by document custodian is a form of Jurat where additional wording was added on the form to customize it for particular uses.

Definition 1:
A certificate is a written statement, signed by an official, describing acts performed in an official capacity.

Definition 2:
A notary certificate would generally include a venue which would indicate the state and county where the notary act took place, notary wording indicating who the signer was, the date the notarization took place, a signature of the notary, and additional boiler plate wording would be standard components of the many varieties of notary certificates. Notary certificates could be designated for many of the possible notary acts and could differ somewhat in content from state to state. In many states, a Notary certificate must be attached ( generally by staple ) to the document it is associated with, after the notarization has been completed.

Definition 3:
A piece of paper with notarial wording that is attached to a notarized document. The wording could be included at the end of the document instead of being on a seprate piece of paper.