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

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Common Terms 1   Common Terms 2

Oath

Phonetics: oath    \'ōth\

Function: noun

Many states have merged the acts of Oaths and Affirmations to make this notary act simpler. In many states, the revised official notary act is simply called an Oath, but has a choice of wording to omit the word God, and use the term affirm instead of swear.

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Definition 1:
A solemn pledge or promise containing reference to a Supreme Being. A person who intentionally makes false statements under oath is punishable for perjury. A notary public may administer oaths as a notary act. An oath could also be administered to swear in credible witnesses used to identify a signer being notarized. Some individuals are opposed to taking an oath for religious or idealistic reasons. The legal alternative to taking an oath, is taking an affirmation which does not require any reference to s supreme being.

Definition 2:
Most states require a new notary public to take an Oath of Office. In this Oath the new notary promises to obey the laws of their state and to faithfully carry out their duties as a notary public. This Oath must be filed with the county clerk where their commission is based in most states.

Definition 3:
When a notary performs a Jurat, which is the second most popular official notary act, the document signer is required to swear under oath as to the truthfulness of the document or statement that is being notarized.

Definition 4:
An Oath as a separate act done by a notary public is a bit baffling, because there might not be any notary certificate or written materials to fill out. Notaries are accustomed to having paperwork to do on all transactions. In any case the affiant (Oath-taker) should sign the journal and the notary could write that the journal signer took an oath and that there is no paperwork regarding the oath. The general content or theme of the Oath could be briefly recorded in the Journal though.