In my state the journal is optional, but considered a public record. So I don't put sensitive information in it like a driver license number.
The document and certificate may be seen by lots of people, so again, I wouldn't put any sensitive information in it.
In an optional area outside the language of the certificate itself, I don't think there are hard and fast rules. But it will be perceived as something written by the notary. The law says I have to attach the certificate to a paper document. Writing information such as the title of the document, the number of pages, etc., isn't literally attaching it, but it's serving the same purpose. I wouldn't expect to get any flack about that.
But I would not certify any fact that notaries in my state are not allowed to certify, nor would I write anything that might be considered legal advice. For example, the statement in a box that CA notaries have to inculde,
"A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document"
seems like legal advice to me, so I would never put it in one of my certificates.
In my state, information about capacity goes inside the certificate, and it is the signer who is claiming the capacity is true, not me. That's the Vermont law; I don't have to write that the signer is the one claiming the capacity, because the law says it. |
