Notary public (Florida)


In the U.S. state of Florida, a notary public is a public officer appointed by the governor of the state to take acknowledgments, administer oaths, attest to photocopies of certain documents, solemnize marriage, protest the non-acceptance or non-payment of negotiable instruments , and perform other duties specified by law.
A notary may only perform a notarial act upon receipt of satisfactory proof of identity, or by the notary's own personal knowledge of the person appearing before them, or upon the sworn statement of two witnesses who personally know the person whose signature is to be authenticated. A notary may not notarize their own signature, or the signature of their spouse, parent, or child.

Authority of a Florida notary public

Notaries Public in Florida have the authority to take acknowledgments, administer oaths, solemnize marriage, certify the contents of a safe-deposit box, certify the Vehicle Identification Number of a motor vehicle, and certify copies of non-recordable documents.
Any individual at least 18 years of age who is a resident of Florida may apply for and obtain commission as a notary public, provided that they have obtained a $7,500.00 public bond from an insurance company, and taken a notary education course administered by an authorized course provider. Such commission is usually obtained by legal secretaries, paralegals, and attorneys for use in their place of work, where the notarization of client signatures is a requirement on many court pleadings and other documents. However, occupation in the legal profession is not a prerequisite to becoming a notary, and a person of any profession may apply for and obtain a commission. Many banks also have notaries on staff to notarize the signatures of their customers.

Seal requirements

A notary seal of the rubber stamp type is required to be affixed to all notarized paper documents. The rubber stamp must include the commissioned name of the notary public, the words "Notary Public-State of Florida", the notary's commission number, and the date on which the notary's commission expires. Prior to the mid-1970s, the only statutory requirement regarding notarial seals was that one be used and that it include the words "Notary Public" and "State of Florida at Large"; the name of the notary was optional, and the law did not specify what types of seals were permissible. This law was later amended to state that the seal must be round in design and of either the rubber stamp or impression type. In the early 1990s, the statute was again changed to require a rubber stamp seal, with an impression type seal being optional and not acceptable unless used in conjunction with a rubber stamp. However, many notaries continue to use the impression seal with their rubber stamp to allow for easy detection when trying to determine which document is an original. This process is made more difficult for notaries who only use a rubber stamp seal, as the Florida statutes require that the seal be affixed in only photographically-reproducible black ink.