I wouldn't think a five year old could give consent to anything in any state, which is why they have a guardian. So I can't think of a single reason for the child to be there.
I think you're over thinking this, unless there's something in your state law that I'm not aware of. I agree with the others. Our concern is to make sure that the person signing the form can provide proper ID, that the document is complete and that the signer is doing so of their own free will (and just for 'best practices', I like to ensure that they know what they're signing - but I don't have to know and won't get involved in explaining it to them beyond a very short statement, like we do with loan docs).
The validity of the document is outside our authority or interest, again, unless your state has any requirements along those lines. (My state now even requires our certificates to include a statement to that effect as part of every certificate.) If I have any suspicion that someone doesn't get that, I'll do my best to make that clear, but that's as much explaining as I want to get into. Verifying that they are using the right procedure and/or form to accomplish what they want is above our pay grade...
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