Posted by Ernest__CT on 3/31/07 10:23am
Msg #183147

Yet another cautionary tale

This morning I traveled 20 miles or so to notarize a Trust document. Two other signatures had already been notarized by another Notary Public (NOT a Notary Signing Agent) in another city. (sigh) On the three copies, with a total of six notarized signatures, the Notary's commission expiration date appeared five times. Yes, it was missing completely on one notarial block. In another notarial block, the year of commission expiration was 2007 instead of the same year as the other four.

The witnesses signatures were mostly readable. None had their names printed under them.

I do not claim to be perfect. Far from it.

As Notaries Public we must always be aware that many documents will be used after the signers have died, have become incapacitated, or are otherwise no longer available to make corrections. In Connecticut, the Notary's signature and date of commission expiration are all that are required for a signature to be notarized. In the above-cited case, an attorney could successfully argue that the document had not been properly notarized.

Reply by Sharon Taylor on 3/31/07 10:42am
Msg #183151

Missing commission expiration date

I see docs all the time that have only the preprinted line for the notary's signature with no preprinted line for the commission expiration date. I always write in "My Commission Expires (date)" under my signature line in those cases since TN notary stamps do not include that wording.
It sounds like the notary got distracted and wrote in the current year instead of the actual year of commission expiration on one notarization. That's another reason to always always always double check your work by going through the docs one more time with an eagle eye after the signing before it is mailed!
As far as witness signatures, the names of the witnesses should always be printed under their signature lines, especially since a great many people have difficult or unreadable signatures. If it were ever necessary to track down a witness after the signing, however long that might be, a readable name would provide a good starting point.

Reply by dickb/wi on 3/31/07 12:19pm
Msg #183165

i agree whole heartedly with both of you.....i see......

those kinds of things all the time.....i had one from out of state where the first notary notarized all of the signers even tho one of them had not signed the document yet...i just attached a loose ack, but i bet the title co threw it as the pre printed block was already signed by a notary.......when a notary block is not complete as to the preprinted wording as i see quite often, i just hand write in the block the missing wording and the sign and seal it....i get title docs all of the time that don't have a venue on them [not even at the beginning of the doc]....so of course i always have to add it and my printed sig and my experation.....