Posted by Bernice/CA on 2/15/07 7:07pm
Msg #175902

Are you familiar with this document:

Hi,

I’m doing a signing this evening and noticed in the package the following:


Affidavit as to continuous Marital Status

BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared, husband and wife, who being duly sworn, deposes and say:

1. That affiants are husband and wife and took title as husband and wife to real property described in XXX Title Company’s file no. 10-00, commonly know as
2. That affiants have been continuously married, each to the other, from prior to the date of taking title to the above described property to the present date.




State of
County of

The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this Day of , 2005 by: ______________________________________________________ who is/are personally known to me or who has/have produced a driers license(s) as identification and ho did not take an oath.


Notary Signature (Seal)


If so, would you notarize it?

Reply by Genkichan on 2/15/07 7:10pm
Msg #175903

If they are married and sign the document attesting to the facts as stated, then yes, of course I would notarize it. You aren't notarizing capacity. They are swearing as to their marital status...

Reply by Bernice/CA on 2/15/07 7:16pm
Msg #175904

Thanks, wanted to confirm.

Have a nice evening

Reply by Dave_CA on 2/15/07 7:40pm
Msg #175908

The form contains elements of both a jurat and an acknowledgment neither of which conform to CA requirements.
If the property is out of state you could complete the Ack.
If the property is in CA you would need to attach a loose certificate.
The best option would be to contact the hiring company and ask which they wanted.
If they require a juratt hen either use your CA jurat stamp or attach a loose jurat.
Same if they require an acknowledgment.
Remember we are not to choose.
If I could not get in touch with anyone and the property is in CA I would use a jurat.
If you have included all the verbiage. I'm saying this because I believe most of these forms that I have seen include a "who did/did not take an oath and the preceding language says that they have sworn.

JMO not a lawyer.

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/15/07 8:01pm
Msg #175913

A jurat?

This form is clearly an acknowledgment, it just needs the correct CA wording.

To the original poster, why are you asking whether we would notarize it? Why wouldn't you notarize it?

Reply by Ndwa on 2/16/07 4:06am
Msg #175937

How can that be a jurat when the certificate clearly state "who did not take an oath"? Just attached a CA ack with correct wording and you should be fine. I will bet anything that 99.9% of LO/EO only know of an acknowledgment or will give anyone that answer when they call concerning a notary certificate.

Reply by Kate/CA on 2/16/07 9:02am
Msg #175969

I agree

You can ad attorneys to that list. When I was taking my test to be recommissioned, an attorney was sitting next to me. We were studying before the test and she asked me to explain to her, ever though she had the handbook in her hand, what a Jurat was. I live near several attorneys and they haven't a clue when it comes to notary law.

Reply by Dave_CA on 2/16/07 10:12am
Msg #175996

I still say jurat...

The form had "BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared, husband and wife, who being duly sworn, deposes and say:"
The bottom part of the forms that I've seen included the choice did/did not take an oath.
I've usually seen this from companies in FL and when I asked I was told either a jurat or an ack. was fine with them.
When I said they needed to specify and that I could either attach a loose acknowledgment or use my CA compliant jurat stamp they said to use the jurat stamp.
Granted this was only one title company so I'm not claiming this is the answer. It's just the one I was given.
The point I was trying to make was that the wording was not acceptable for CA and the choice of which form to use is not ours but if I was at a signing, and could not contact title, I would use a jurat.
Basically there are no terms to acknowledge there is only their sworn statement as to marital status and the manner in which title is held.

I also asked the ASN and got the same answer.

Reply by ewing2surf on 2/16/07 10:19am
Msg #175999

An affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, signed by the declarant (who is called the affiant) and witnessed (as to the veracity of the affiant's signature) by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public.

Needs a Jurat Bernice.

Reply by Terri_CA on 2/16/07 10:40am
Msg #176002

A notary is not to be concerned with the contents of the document, i.e, the opening statement. Clearly the notary wording in the certificate is what tells us what type of notarization to perform. Thus, the wording states "did not take an oath." The CA notary must correct the wording by use of the loose All Purpose Acknowledgment, the if the document is to be filed in California, and may use the loose certificate even if it's going out of state to be filed.

Again, the wording within the document contents do not tell us what type of notarization to perform, but the wording in the preprinted notary certificate. A CA notary cannot determine the type of notarization to perform and they cannot determine that the type requested is incorrect.

I will state that I believe that it should be a jurat, but what I believe and think don't matter.

Terri
Lancaster, CA
CA Notary Exam Instructor

Reply by Bernice/CA on 2/16/07 11:26am
Msg #176010

Thank everyone for your responses.

This is for property being purchased in Vegas. I called last night to ask, but didn't get anyone; however, I will follow up before dropping with Fed Ex.

Have a wonderfully Blessed Day!

Bernice

Reply by Dave_CA on 2/16/07 12:44pm
Msg #176024

Terri

All of these that I have seen have an option for "who did/did not take an oath" the option is within the notary certificate.
So???

Reply by Dave_CA on 2/16/07 12:49pm
Msg #176026

Thank you Joe

"The true measure of a persons intelligence is the extent to which they agree with you."

Reply by Blueink_CA on 2/16/07 1:01pm
Msg #176033

It's a bird, it's a plane, no..

it's an acknowledgment. My votes with Terri!

Reply by MikeC/NY on 2/16/07 4:44pm
Msg #176097

I had several "affidavits" similar to this (starts off with "duly sworn" and ends with "did not take an oath" in a package today out of Florida. I called the TC and asked what he wanted me to do, because the wording was noncompliant for NY and I had to attach certificates - did he want a jurat or an acknowledgment? He said it was the standard form they sent to all states, then looked at it and said something to the effect of "Wait, this makes no sense - why did they word it this way?"

I told him I was thinking jurat because it's an affidavit, but it was his call. He finally said there was no reason to have them take an oath, just do an acknowledgment. With any luck, they'll change the form in the future.

Some here have said "clearly, it's a jurat", and others have said "clearly, its an acknowledgment"; my own take is that it's up to the folks who want it signed to tell me which one it is. Next one that comes along might decide they want a jurat - I'm not allowed to make those decisions for them.

Reply by Terri_CA on 2/16/07 8:22pm
Msg #176127

Well in the example given, the wording in the notary certificate states "did not take an oath." Since an oath is the jurat, that leaves the only other type of notarization by default is the acknowledgment. I would cross out the wording and use a loose all purpose acknowlegment.

FYI - It's my understanding the NV's ack wording is very similar if not the same as California, so this wording may not be correct for Nevada either. Even though Califonia states we can use wording (only for an acknowledgment) that may be different than CA wording if the document is going to be filed in another state (and the notary is not asked to perform illegally), but how does the CA notary know that this is the wording that is acceptable for that other state. Unless the notary actually does the research, they don't. Therefore, as a California notary, I will, because it's my option to do so, cross out the wrong wording and use a loose all purpose acknowledgment for all acknowledgment notarizations, no matter where they are going to be filed.

Terri
Lancaster, CA

Reply by PAW on 2/16/07 8:40pm
Msg #176130

>>> ... but how does the CA notary know that this is the wording that is acceptable for that other state. <<<

A notary does not need to be concerned about the wording for another state. They only need to ensure that the wording is compliant with their own state laws. Most states, if not all, have laws that allow for notary certificates to be acceptable from out of state jurisdictions and those certificates will be valid within the state.

So, in this case, if the notarization was completed in CA and the certificate was CA compliant, then it would be accepted in NV or any other state.