California Notary Public ExamJuratsMedium
A Notary Public is presented with a multi-page document for a jurat. The jurat certificate is attached as a separate loose certificate, and the document itself does not contain any notarial wording. The signer has already signed the last page of the document. What is the Notary Public's first action after identifying the signer and ensuring the document is complete?
- AAdminister the oath/affirmation to the signer.
- BInstruct the signer to initial every page of the document.
- CAttach the loose certificate to the document immediately.
- DVerify that the loose certificate correctly identifies the document it belongs to.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Administer the oath/affirmation to the signer.
After identification and ensuring document completeness, the next crucial step in a jurat is always to administer the oath or affirmation to the signer. The signature, which has already occurred in this scenario, would typically follow the oath, but the oath itself must precede the completion of the certificate.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Initialing pages is not a mandatory step for a jurat.
- C. Attaching the certificate is typically done after the notarial act (oath and signature) is complete.
- D. While important, verifying the certificate's details is part of completing the certificate, which comes after the oath/affirmation.
Jurat - Oath Administration Timing
For a jurat, the oath or affirmation is administered to the signer after their identity has been verified and the document is confirmed to be complete, and crucially, before the Notary completes the notarial certificate.
- Oath follows identification and document review.
- Oath precedes notarization certificate completion.
- It's the verbal act binding truthfulness.
Memory trick: Identify, then swear, then sign, then certify, that's the jurat's line!