Friday 26 September 2014

The Essential Role Of A Notary Public Philadelphia PA

By Karina Frost


A notary public is a public servant who is appointed by a state official such as a governor, state secretary or a lieutenant governor. This professional can also be appointed by the state legislature. In Pennsylvania, notaries are empowered to perform a number of official acts. They take verifications, affidavits, depositions and acknowledgements, administer affirmations and oaths, certify copies of documents and protest dishonored negotiable instruments.

Public notaries are prohibited from providing their clients with legal advice or drafting documents like mortgages, contracts, wills, leases, powers of attorney, bonds and liens. Therefore, notaries cannot help their clients draft any document that needs to be notarized. By using the services of a notary public Philadelphia PA dwellers can strengthen the validity of certain legal documents. The participating parties can also be protected from fraud.

In order to have a particular document notarized, you should meet the notarial officer personally. The professional will ask you to provide him or her with a document that shows your identity such as a military identification card, driver license or passport. In order to become a notarial officer, candidates are not required to have special training or prior knowledge. They are only required to take a test and pass a background check.

Identities are very important and therefore, a notary public will spend some time verifying your name and those of other people who are signing a document. After a notarial officer certifies a document, he or she will seal it with a notarial seal and record the task in a register. This officer can help you avoid being a victim of forgery, fraud, misrepresentation or scams.

Notarial officers help deter fraud because of the many requirements that need to be met before legal documents are notarized. One of these requirements is that you and other people signing a legal document have to do so in front of the notarial officer. This makes it difficult for imposters to try to get a phony document notarized.

A notarial officer will also verify whether the people who are signing a legal document know the reason for doing so and that they do so under their own free will. This helps to prevent forced transactions from taking place. Notarial officers also check the legal documents thoroughly to ensure that they are complete before you sign them. In this way, you will not sign a blank document that can be used for a different purpose.

Notaries are also required to record all transactions they notarize in a notarial journal. This journal becomes part of public records and serves as a paper trail that can be used as evidence if an act of fraud occurred or was attempted. In times when dealing with strangers is the norm, requiring certain documents to be notarized provides a significant level of protection against fraud.

Notaries work in various institutions while others travel to meet their clients. Most banks have notarial officers working for them so that all documents that need to be officially witnessed by a notarial officer can be notarized on their premises. Most government offices also have notarial officers. Law offices, police precincts and courthouses also have employees who are licensed to work as notary publics.




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