Per the California Secretary of State’s website… A change to California’s mandatory Notary certificate wording for acknowledgments, jurats and proofs of execution takes effect January 1, 2015, and Notaries in the Golden State who do not use the new wording will be out of compliance with state law.
Under Chapter 197, Statutes of 2014, the following consumer notification must be included as part of the notarial certificates:
“A Notary Public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.”
This notification must appear in a box at the top of the certificate, and it must be legible.
The notification seeks to reduce fraud by letting consumers know that the Notary’s seal and signature do not authenticate or endorse the contents of a document. The legislation’s sponsors wanted to make sure that people unfamiliar with a Notary’s duties would not be more inclined to trust a fraudulent document simply because it was notarized.
You can always find out more by visiting the California Secretary of State’s website here: