should the notary be an attorney?

[Mollyandjo 1]

hello friends.am here always asking question,my question is should the notary an attorney?my fiance said her sister can notarized our documents but she isnt an attorney,is it good or not?thanks for your care and time.

God bless you all

[midge and isi 8]

hello friends.am here always asking question,my question is should the notary an attorney?my fiance said her sister can notarized our documents but she isnt an attorney,is it good or not?thanks for your care and time.

God bless you all

Depends on the state. I am a notary and CANNOT do documents for direct relatives. See a state regulations.

[keyshawn18 52]

The notary does not have to be an attorney.Your can get a notary from any US bank or financial institition.Your company might have someone who notarizes documentsthere.there are a few clowns at my job who are notaries.

[Mollyandjo 1]

thanks to you all!

hugs

[aaron2020 11,651]

hello friends.am here always asking question,my question is should the notary an attorney?my fiance said her sister can notarized our documents but she isnt an attorney,is it good or not?thanks for your care and time.

God bless you all

I'm a California Notary Public. A notary is essentially a witness when a person signs a document. It's always better to have an uninterested witness. An interested witness could result in the document being voided by another party.

A CA notary can be anyone. A CA notary does not have to be a lawyer. A CA notary cannot practice law unless he/she is a lawyer. (A notario is not a lawyer in the US. Please do not hire a "notario" to do your legal work - it's illegal in CA. A certified CA "legal document preparer" can legally assist with preparing immigration documents but cannot give legal advice - personally, I don't see how the heck this can happen without some advice but this is another matter.)

A CA notary can notarize documents for family members if they don't have an interest in the matter. (Yes, it's vague. Laws are not always clear.)

Personally, I would never notarize any documents with my name in it or where I may have a personal interest. For example: I can notarize an immigration supporting document for my sister to petition her husband if it doesn't affect me - meaning I am not involved in the case in any other way. If I was the Joint Sponsor, I am now a part of the process to bring her husband to the US, so I would not notarize anything related to the case since I am personally involved.

While there are no hard rules on who you can notarize for, there is a rule against notarizing anything that you may have an interest in.

I would advise you to get another notary and not use your fiancee's sister. Your fiancee's sister has a personal interest in you getting her sibling to the US. While it may be okay, I don't see how she cannot have an interest in her sibling getting an immigration benefit. When in doubt, it is better to get an impartial third party witness.

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Here are the rules for CA notaries; http://www.onlinenotarycourse.com/Classroom/part6sec2.htm

Part 6, Section 2

Notarizing for Family Members

It is perfectly legal to notarize documents for family members in California, so long as you don’t have a personal interest in the matter. Since California has community property laws, you must be especially careful when notarizing for a spouse or domestic partner.

Government Code § 8224

You must be absolutely sure that you have no personal interest in the transaction and that you do not stand to gain or benefit in any way as a result of the transaction. Direct financial or beneficial interest would include such things as notarizing any document that names you as a beneficiary, or any document that benefits your spouse and therefore may benefit community property that you hold with your spouse or domestic partner.

Government Code § 8224

It is a decision you must make for yourself, depending on the circumstances, but just keep in mind that if someone decides to challenge your notarization and they get a really aggressive attorney, the notarization, and possibly the entire transaction, could be considered void.

The issue here is “impartiality”. Notaries must be impartial witnesses in any notarization. That means that you have absolutely no interest one way or the other about the outcome of the transaction. With a family member, especially a spouse or domestic partner, it would be difficult to honestly say that you do not care about the transaction or how the parties will be affected.

If you are asked by a family member to notarize a document, and you have any reservations at all, it is usually a simple matter to find them another notary. Just tell your family member that it’s more to their benefit to have another notary handle it.

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What documents are you trying to have notarized? I hope you aren't trying to create your own "certified copy" since a notary cannot create a "certified copy" that the US government will accept.

Edited April 24, 2012 by aaron2020