What is the difference between signing a Jurat and an Acknowledgement? How should they be handled?
A notary should not decide what type of notarial act a document requires. The customer must know and tell the notary. However, if the jurat indicates that the document was “sworn to before me,” then an oath must be administered. Jurats Jurat notarizations are required for transactions where the signer must attest to the content of the document, such as all affidavits and pleadings in court. It is a certification on an affidavit declaring when, where and before whom it was sworn. In executing a jurat, a notary guarantees that the signer personally appeared before the notary, was given an oath or affirmation by the notary attesting to the truthfulness of the document, and signed the document in the notary’s presence. It is always important that the notary positively identify a signer for a jurat, as s/he is certifying that the signer attested to the truthfulness of the document contents under penalty of perjury. However, jurat notarizations do not prove a document is true, legal, valid o
