Document Notarization
Document notarization is essential to the transferal of real property and validating legal documents. If you are buying or selling property, a home, land, car, or boat, you’ll become acquainted with document notarization. If you are executing a Will, Power of Attorney, or Registering an Out-of-State vehicle, just to name a few, document notarization will be an important aspect of the process.
The signing of most legal documents requires that a Notary be present to confirm:
- All Signer’s identities are verified.
- Signers understand the documents they are signing.
- Signers are entering into a transaction of their own free will, and not being coerced.
A Florida Notary Public is an “Official of Integrity” commissioned by the office of the Governor of the State of Florida. Notaries are appointed to serve the public as an impartial witness in performing a variety of official fraud-deterrent acts related to the signing of important documents.
SIGN IN THE NOTARY'S PRESENCE
Wait, don’t sign yet!
Florida law considers many documents to be important enough to be signed in the presence of a Notary Public.
The Notary Public is directly responsible for determining that the person signing is who they state they are,
before they sign a document.
So, wait for the Notary to first verify your ID before you sign your documents.
Some Documents That Need Notarization.
Don’t worry if you don’t see your document, this is only a partial list.
- Adoption Papers
- Advanced Health Care
- Directives
- Claim of Lien
- Deed
- Divorce Documents
- Loyalty Oaths
- Mortgage Documents
- Power of Attorney (POA)
- Prenuptial Agreement
- Self-Proving Will / Codicil
- Trusts and Estates
- Wills (all types)
Read Carefully: The document to be copied and certified must be an original document, and cannot be a Public Record, or Vital Record. Public Records are documents recorded in a county clerk’s office or held by a government agency and are available for public inspection.
If your document is listed below, a Notary cannot complete a Certified Photocopy of the document.
- Birth Certificates
- Court Records
- Criminal Records including Wants Warrants
- Death Certificates
- Deeds
- Mortgages
- Related Property Records
- Divorce Decrees
- Driving Records
- Election Records
- Licenses, incl: Professional and Business
- Marriage Certificates
- Missing Persons
- Sex Offender Records
- Unclaimed Property
- Voter Registration
- Step Parent Adoption
- Affidavit Of Diligent Search
- Consent And Waiver By Parent
- Relative Caretaker, Prospective Parent
- Adult Adoption
- Affidavit Of Non-paternity
- Grandparent Adoption
- VIN Verification
Some owners either don’t have tags on the vehicle, in the case of an antique, or may have a vehicle that they’ve recently resurrected from storage, and are unable to legally drive the vehicle to have it verified. This is where Mobile Notary Tampa comes to the rescue. We’ll travel to the vehicle, verify its VIN number, match it to the one on the HSMV 82042 form, and notarize the form, making the process much simpler for you.
Important: The Notary must be in the physical presence of the vehicle to verify the VIN.
- Driving School Attendance Affidavit
If you get a traffic violation and elect to attend a driver improvement course, the related affidavit – in which you commit to attending – must be signed and notarized before returning it to the County Clerk.