I got a call this afternoon from a guy at a funeral home (with a decedent's attorney present) who was rambling on about an Advanced Health Care Directive (for CA) I witnessed more than 2 years ago and supposedly "missed a line" and can I go to his office and fix it...
That made no sense to me, so I asked him to clarify. Turns out he was talking about the section where one of the witnesses has to sign that they have no beneficial interest, are not related, etc. When I sign as witness only to an AHD (which I would only do if I'm there to notarize something), I generally sign as the 2nd witness. I have the person acting as first witness sign off on that section that involves any additional assurances, and that's what I told the guy. He then tells me that the attorney claims I didn't notarize it, either. I explained that is very possible because an AHD usually asks for *either* 2 witnesses OR a notarization and I'm not the one who makes that decision.
I promised to call him back when I got to my office and had a chance to check my journal. Sure enough, I had notarized several documents for the decedent on the date the document was signed, but no AHD. Fortunately, by then they had located the guy who was the first witness and figured out a solution that didn't involve me.
Just for the record, I think that if they hadn't located the other witness, I would probably be willing to sign off on that statement (based on proof in my journal that I did meet with him on the specified date - 'cause I sure don't remember), but I probably would have negotiated some fee for my time and travel, unless they were very flexible on the time and I was going to be nearby anyway.
Not nearly as interesting as someone going into labor during a signing  but one more example of the crazy questions we get from people who don't know what they're talking about - and why we should! We just never know what we're going to get pulled into next. If I wasn't familiar with AHD documents and requirements, this could have been a major headache.
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