An official appointed by the state government is a notary public who provides notary services. They help in daunting the fraud by acting as an unbiased witness to signing legal documents such as affidavits, real estate deeds, trusts, wills, powers of attorney, etc.
The primary responsibility of any Notary is to prevent fraud by validating a person‘s signature, governing oaths and declarations, taking affidavits and legislative declarations, including from witnesses, authenticating the execution of certain types of documents; and taking acknowledgments such as for deeds or any other documents.
The Notary validates the signers’ identities, their willingness to sign important documents under duress or not, and their grasp of the document’s or contract’s subjects. Under the penalty of perjury, some notarizations also require the Notary to place the signer under oath, declaring that the information included in the document is factual and correct. Notaries are regularly called upon to notarize documents, including deeds of trust, wills, and powers of attorney.
The public’s trust in the Notary is based on their neutrality. They have a moral obligation to refrain from intervening in circumstances when they have a personal stake. The public has confidence that the Notary’s screening obligations are free of self-interest. A Notary shall never refuse to assist someone because of their race, nationality, religion, politics, sexual orientation, or non-customer status.
Notaries Public ensure that many of the life-changing documents that private citizens sign are appropriately executed, whether they are used to transfer real estate, give powers of attorney, establish a prenuptial agreement, or perform any of the numerous acts that allow our civil society to function.
