Posted by Mike Photon on 4/3/06 7:04pm
Msg #110711

Apostille

Hi there. I have a question on a basic notary duty. I know its a dumb question but as a newbie I was hoping that one of the experts out there can shed some light here.
A client needs to send a power of attorney to Poland and wants me to do an apostille. I have never done this. How do I go about it?
I know poland is a party to the "Hague Convention" but I am not sure what I need to do other than attaching a Jurat.
Someone told me that I just need to complete a regular Jurat and have him take it to the SOS or somebody to complete the Apostille. Do I need to mention anything differently than a regular jurat?

Reply by Mike Photon on 4/3/06 7:10pm
Msg #110714

Forgot to mention, I am from California. Somehow my posts shows AK, though my profile has been corrected.(I had put AK earlier by mistake)

Reply by SueW/Tn on 4/3/06 7:16pm
Msg #110717

This is state specific...

the answers you are looking for should be in your state handbook.

Reply by Anonymous on 4/3/06 7:37pm
Msg #110731

Re: This is state specific...

Thanks for the quick response Sue.
I have gone throught the state handbook. Searched the entire handbook and the word Apostille doesn't appear once in it. But on the SOS website the following information is posted:
<Quote>
The California Secretary of State provides authentication of public official signatures on documents to be used outside the United States of America. The country of destination determines whether the authentication is an Apostille or Certification.

The most common types of documents submitted for authentication include:

marriage licenses, ....<Snip>
powers of attorney
…Articles of Incorporation
<Snip><Snip>

The California Secretary of State can only authenticate documents issued in the State of California by the following public officials and their deputies:

County Clerks
County Recorders
Judges of the Superior Court
Court Administrators
Executive Officers
Executive Clerks
State Officials
Notaries Public
Any document that has been executed by County Health Officers and County Local Registrars can only be authenticated if the document is first certified by the county clerk's office. The only public officials our office can authenticate are the ones listed above.

These documents must be current certified copies or must have been notarized by a California notary Public. For school records you must obtain a notarized copy of record from the high school, college, or university, etc. prior to forwarding to the Notary Public Section for authentication.

Any document requiring Authentication of a public official’s signature, may be mailed (include a cover letter listing the country of destination and a self-addressed stamped envelope), or hand delivered, to the Sacramento Office of the Secretary of State for processing. Additionally, documents requiring Authentication of a public official’s signature, but not including notaries public, may be hand delivered for over-the-counter service to any of the Secretary of State regional offices. Office locations are as follows:
<Snip>
<Unquote>

Well. it just says the document "must have been notarized by a California notary Public"

My question is if there is any specific wording for this and more importantly if it has to be a Jurat or Ack.
Thanks again and sorry for the long quote,
Mikes

Reply by Dave_CA on 4/3/06 8:50pm
Msg #110752

Re: This is state specific...

Mike,
You have done a good job on checking out the CA procedure for obtaining an apostille.
I suspect you are not getting the answer you are looking for because we are not to decide which type of certificate or what language is to be used.
That is the responsibility of the person requesting the document.
They should be able to get the specific requirements from the entity requiring them.

Reply by John_NorCal on 4/3/06 10:29pm
Msg #110766

Re: This is state specific...

Mike,
My take on this is that the document just needs to be delivered to the SOS. I don't think there is any specific wording that you would do, I think that will come from the SOS office. As to whether its an ack or a jurat, that would have to come from the person who draws the document. You can't decide that. Hope that helps.

Reply by Jon on 4/3/06 10:56pm
Msg #110769

Notaries do not "do" apostilles, the SOS does. You simply complete the notarization like any other. It is the client's responsibility to get an apostille from the SOS.

If you do a search on apostille you will find that it has been discussed in detail on this board.

Reply by Joan Bergstrom on 4/3/06 11:41pm
Msg #110772

After the document is notarized, the document first be presented to the county clerk for certification of the notary's signature. The document must be executed in the county where the notary has filed his or her oath. The notary does not take the notarized document to the county clerk; the client does!

Once certified, the client must forward the document to ( in Calif) our Sec of State who is responsible for completing the apostitle.

The county clerk will have information on addresses for completing this process.

Once the apostitle is added to the document, it will be recognized by any other country who is part of the Hague Convention, thereby eliminating the ardous steps in having a document formally legalized.

It's a wonderful convenience for anyone needing to send formal documents to foreign countries.

Reply by Joe Ewing on 4/4/06 9:34am
Msg #110842

Mike as a practicing mobile notary I average about one full service Apostille per week. If you care to consult with me on my fees and procedures you can e-mail me off the board.

[e-mail address]

Regarding your question on what type of notarization. Mike you can only offer 2 types. Acknowledgment or Jurat and both must be "California compliant".

The apostille process you ask about involves 2 levels of notarial signature guarantee. The first is a signature guarantee from the COUNTY where the Notary holds his bond (authentication) costs $2 and a second guarantee (Apostille) from the State of California that is worded specifically for the COUNTRY (Poland for example) where it is being sent costs $26.

Unless you have a convenient Secretary of State office nearby that you can walk into I suggest you have the client mail the document and a request for Apostille naming the Country where it is going to along with a stamped self addressed envelope to Sacramento with a check for $26.

Reply by Kelly M Robertson on 4/4/06 1:07pm
Msg #110933

Great Advice Joe

Yup, Joe Ewing taught me everything I need to know about Apostille's: Send the referral to Joe Ewing in San Diego!
Thanks for the great info Joe - you are a wealth of information that everyone on any board can benefit from. kelly

Reply by Anonymous on 4/4/06 5:29pm
Msg #111005

Re: Great Advice Joe - AGREE WITH KELLY

Joan, you missed the mark on this one. Defer to the experts and save face. Kelly is right on.