Three acts, side by side
An acknowledgment
The signer tells you that the signature is theirs. Idaho’s statute defines it as “a declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record”. The signer comes before you and is identified, but the signing itself may come first — in California’s handbook, “the document can be signed before the person brings it to you for notarization.”
A jurat
The signer swears, or affirms, that what the record says is true. Idaho’s statute calls it a verification on oath or affirmation: “a declaration, made by an individual on oath or affirmation before a notarial officer, that a statement in a record is true.” California’s handbook has the signing in the room: “the person requesting the jurat must appear before you, take an oath, and sign the document in your presence.”
A copy certification
This one certifies a copy, not a signature. In Idaho’s statute the notary “shall determine that the copy is a full, true and accurate transcription or reproduction of the record or item.” What may be copied this way is each state’s to say. Texas’s Secretary of State: “A notary may, however, make a certified copy of a non-recordable document.” A birth certificate or a marriage license is another matter there: “Certified copies of recordable documents may be obtained by contacting the government agency that maintains record of the document.”
Every one of the rule sets for the fifty states and D.C. lists an acknowledgment and a jurat among a notary’s acts; 43 list a copy certification — California’s as a certified copy of a power of attorney. For eight states, no copy certification is set out here, which settles nothing either way: a state’s own handbook may.
| State | The acts its rule set lists |
|---|---|
| California | Acknowledgment, Jurat, Oath / affirmation, Certified copy of a power of attorney, Proof of execution (subscribing witness), Deposition |
| Texas | Acknowledgment, Proof of execution (subscribing witness), Oath / affirmation, Jurat, Deposition, Protest, Copy certification |
| Florida | Acknowledgment, Jurat, Oath / affirmation, Copy certification |
From Hand & Seal’s rule sets, drafted from each state’s law: checked against the statute’s text on October 4, 2026; not yet reviewed by an attorney. Your state’s handbook and commissioning office have the last word.
Who chooses
In the offices quoted here, a notary who is not an attorney does not choose the act. Idaho’s handbook says it of every notary there: “As ministerial officials, notaries do not have the authority to decide on the appropriate type of notarization to perform.” and “It is the requestor’s responsibility to tell the notary what type of notarial act is needed.” Texas’s Secretary of State: “A notary public who is not an attorney, can only complete the notarial certificate that is already on the document. Choosing a notarial certificate for a document is practicing law.” It says who may choose there, too: “Instead, the notary may allow the person for whom the notarization is performed to choose among the sample certificates provided to the notary with the notary’s commission.” And Oregon’s guide: “a notary may not suggest or select notarial certificates for people. Rather, the notary performs a particular notarization at the direction of the requesting individual.”
Where the line is drawn
Texas’s office and Oregon’s guide speak of a notary who is not an attorney, Idaho’s handbook of every notary — and a state may draw the line in more than one place. Missouri’s statute tells a notary who is not an attorney that they “shall not assist another person in drafting, completing, selecting, or understanding a document or transaction requiring a notarial act” — and then that this “shall not preclude a notary who is duly qualified, trained, licensed, or experienced in a particular industry or professional field from selecting, drafting, completing, or advising on a document or certificate related to a matter within that industry or field.” Your own state’s handbook says where its line is.
When the document has no certificate
- Ask which act it needs. If the signer does not know, send them back to whoever asked for the document. Idaho’s handbook: “If the customer does not know, advise him or her to find out from the entity requesting the document or the author of the document.”
- Then complete that act’s certificate in your state’s wording, attached the way your state allows.
- California’s handbook forbids a stamp on a page with no certificate: “a notary public seal and signature cannot be affixed to a document without the correct notarial wording.” Your own state’s handbook says what it asks.
In the journal
Record each act as the act it was — an acknowledgment as an acknowledgment, a jurat as a jurat — on its own line, where your state’s journal rules ask for one. The notary journal shows how far three states differ on what a line holds.
How Hand & Seal keeps it
The journal form offers the acts your state’s rule set lists, and refuses one it does not; each act’s fee is held to your state’s limit where the rule set has one; and a refusal is a line of its own, with the reason and no fee. See how it works.
This guide quotes the statutes and state offices named under Sources; your own state’s law decides which acts you may perform, and its commissioning office has the last word. It is not legal advice.