The following is not to be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.
My personal interpretation of §300 regarding acknowledgments, following the examples offered in the NY Notary Public Law, is that representative capacity is not shown in the notarial certificates. It also must be noted that the law defines a "person" as follows:
4. For the purposes of this section, the term "person" means any corporation, joint stock company, estate, general partnership (including any registered limited liability partnership or foreign limited liability partnership), limited liability company (including a professional service limited liability company), foreign limited liability company (including a foreign professional service limited liability company), joint venture, limited partnership, natural person, attorney in fact, real estate investment trust, business trust or other trust, custodian, nominee or any other individual or entity in its own or any representative capacity.
Given that, I submit that the certificate must show the person as identified, not the representative capacity claimed by the signer. In Florida, for example, where the representative capacity can be shown, the name of the person, as identified by supporting documentation, should be affixed first, then followed by the capacity.
In your case, the name that you can positively associate with the person is "John W. Smith" and therefore that is the name you need to use in the certificate, citing §309-a, Uniform forms of certificates of acknowledgment or proof within this state. |
