Notary · General

After completing a notarisation, the notary realises they made an error in the notarial certificate (wrong date). What is the correct procedure?

Correct answer

Complete an entirely new notarial certificate with the correct information — the original document can have the incorrect certificate removed and a new, correct loose certificate attached; do not use correction fluid on official certificates

  1. A Cross out the error, initial it, and write the correct information — common for minor certificate errors
  2. B Use correction fluid (whiteout) to cover the error and retype
  3. C Complete an entirely new notarial certificate with the correct information — the original document can have the incorrect certificate removed and a new, correct loose certificate attached; do not use correction fluid on official certificates
  4. D Ignore the error if the signer already left

Why this is the answer

CORRECTING NOTARIAL CERTIFICATE ERRORS: MINOR ERRORS (before the signer leaves): If the document has the certificate incorporated: line through the error, initial adjacent to the change — NOT on the signature or seal area; all parties should initial changes; AFTER THE DOCUMENT IS COMPLETED: Complete a new, correct notarial certificate on a separate page (loose certificate/allonge); attach to the document with a notation connecting it to the document (document title, date, number of pages); some states have specific forms for loose certificates; DO NOT USE CORRECTION FLUID: Whiteout on notarial certificates is unprofessional and may be considered alteration of an official document; CAN'T FIX A COMPLETED SEAL: If the seal was applied in the wrong location or incorrectly, it generally cannot be meaningfully corrected — a new certificate is the solution; DOCUMENTATION: Note the error and correction in your journal.
Source: NNA Notary Training — Error Correction Procedures

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