Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Notarizing Documents In A Foreign Language

I recently received a troubling phone call from an individual who was trying to get a notarization done. The document was written in Spanish. She went to UPS and was told that they could not notarize a document in another language. She went to her bank and was told the same thing. Unfortunately, neither UPS nor her bank have even a basic understanding of a notarization. You don't notarize a document, you notarize a signature. A notary's duty is to identify the signer and witness the signature. The contents of the document is irrelevant as is the language of the document. The notary has no responsibility to understand the contents and there's nothing in the Michigan Statute (I'd guess nothing in any state's statute) that indicates that a document must be in English. For all we care, the document could be written in Klingon. Does the signer understand the document? Great, don't play lawyer. Add the appropriate loose certificate, jurat or acknowledgment, identify the signer, witness the signature, and you've done your job.

4 comments:

Alice said...

1) You are correct that the Notary need not be concerned about the wording contents of a document. It is however, the notary’s responsibility to over look the document for any holes, blanks, missing info that needs to be addressed by lining through the space, noting N/A. Without the completion of the document the Notary is not suppose to notary the document. It is worthy to note that the communication of the Notary and the Signer should be on the same page, both speaking and understanding. The notary should enter in the journal that the document appeared to be……
2) It is my understanding that the Notarial Certificate in the USA MUST be in ENGLISH. New Jersey has a recording law that (NJSA 46:15-1.1) that states must be filed in English, or accompanied by a translation in English.
3) According to Van Alstyne’s Notary Public Encyclopedia The Notarial Certificate MUST be in ENGLISH. It further states that this come from an age old case law.
Alice Tulecki, Brick, NJ

Alex Y. said...

"It is however, the notary’s responsibility to over look the document for any holes, blanks, missing info that needs to be addressed by lining through the space."

Not in Michigan. This requirement was removed from the Michigan Notary Act. Michigan notaries are NOT responsible for blank spaces, holes, missing info (In this regard, I think Michigan gets it right. If a notary is not responsible for content, they shouldn't be responsible for missing info).

"It is my understanding that the Notarial Certificate in the USA MUST be in ENGLISH."

Yep, that's why you add your own loose certificate.

Thanks Alice.

Alex Y. said...

PA 426 – Effective October 5, 2006

MCL 55.291

Section 31(9), which previously stated that a notary could not perform a notarial act
on a record containing a blank space, WAS REPEALED.

AMIT said...

Oh i just came to know about this thing from your post.

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