I have a California acknowledgment certificate with additional space for the signer’s title. Is it acceptable to put the signer’s title in the certificate information? For example, “John Doe , Supervisor.” — P.R, California
No. In taking an acknowledgment, a California Notary is authorized only to verify the identity of the person making the acknowledgment. California Notaries are not authorized to verify the signer’s representative capacity, which restricts the Notary from including the signer’s role or title, such as “John Doe, Supervisor,” following their name in the notarial certificate.
As a California Notary, you must use the California acknowledgment wording prescribed in Civil Code 1189(a)(3) exactly as it is in statute for every acknowledgment on a document that will be used in California without any additions, such as noting the title of the document signer.
For information and additional general guidelines for completing Notary certificate wording in other states, please see our article and video, “How to fill out a Notary certificate.”
Hotline answers are based on the laws in the state where the question originated and may not reflect the laws of other states. If in doubt, always refer to your own state statutes. – The Editors
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