subject: When And How Is A Notary Public Jurat Used [print this page] When becoming a Notary Public, there are many things that you will be expected to know. There is a 6 hour course that is created to inform notaries of certain circumstances and official proceedings on documents, but not everything can be covered in detail in that short amount of time. For this, they have the official notary handbook which is written by the state of where the notary resides. In this handbook, notaries will find all the details they need to properly handle a situation. One of these situations is that of a Jurat.
When a document's signer must be placed under oath to attest to the truthfulness and legitimacy, then a Jurat notarization is required. This type of notarization differs from the standard notary signing because it is more than just verifying the person's identification. When notarizing a Jurat, the notary is becoming a witness to the oath of the person signing.
All of the information put into a Jurat should be extensively checked by a Notary Public to ensure it's filled out correctly. In the past, a notary had to personally know the signer and verify his or her identity that way; now, this is not the case. The Jurat specific wording must be present on the record, after the signature or as a certificate attachment. Having these documents available when acting as a mobile notary is important. Be sure to always have plenty on hand and ready to use.
A traveling Notary Public might have more of an chance to come in contact with these types of events as many different binding contracts need this service. Something to keep into consideration when becoming a traveling notary public is that information has to remain safe at all times. The verification process of documents relating to who singing them and having contact to the signer information is part of being a notary. Falsified documents could be easily notarized should someone get a hold of a notary stamp, not to mention damaging the notaries reputation. Any lost of stolen notary seals need to be reported to the police.
While many mobile notaries will not use the Jurat service on a regular basis, there will be a time in a notary's commission where they will. Always remember that the notary handbook provided by the home state will be reference material to answer any questions.
