Common Mistakes: No Notarial Certificate/Jurat

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If a document has no notarial certificate, you cannot complete the notarization. Colorado law requires every notarized document to carry a complete notarial block stating the venue, the date, the notarial act performed, and your signature and stamp, so a missing or incomplete certificate is one of the most common mistakes the Secretary of State warns notaries to avoid.

The Colorado Secretary of State lists common mistakes for notaries to avoid on their website. All of these mistakes are covered in our Colorado Notary Training and in the Colorado Notary Handbook, but since the state specifically calls them out, we want to cover them here too so you are prepared for both the notary exam and real-world notarizations. This is part one in a four-part series.

The Mistake: No Notarial Certificate

The first mistake to avoid is not including a notarial certificate. Colorado law requires that a complete notarial certificate appears on the document whenever a notarization is performed. If someone asks you to sign and stamp a document without performing a specific notarial act, that is a problem. Every notarization must be one of these five acts (the list has included signature witnessing since RULONA took effect in 2018):

1. Administer an oath or affirmation to the person signing the document
2. Take an acknowledgment from the person regarding the execution of the document
3. Take a verification on oath or affirmation (a jurat) on a signed statement
4. Witness or attest a signature
5. Certify a copy of an original document

All of these acts must be performed within the physical presence of the notary public (unless you are using approved remote online notarization).

What a Complete Notarial Certificate Must Include

A notarial certificate is the portion of the document (usually at the bottom or on a separate attached page) where the notary completes their portion. Colorado law requires four elements:

1. Venue (the state and county where the notarization took place)
2. Date of the notarization
3. The type of notarial act performed, using specific statutory language found in the notary law
4. The notary’s official signature and stamp/seal, meeting the requirements specified in the notary law

If any of these four elements is missing, the notarization is incomplete. A court or recording office may reject the document.

Real-World Example

A scenario that comes up frequently: a client brings you a document that already has their signature on it, but there is no notarial certificate anywhere on the page. They ask you to “just stamp it.” This puts you in a bind. You cannot legally notarize a document without completing a notarial certificate.

What to do:

• Ask the client what type of notarial act they need (most of the time, they do not know)
• If they are signing a document that will be recorded (like a deed), they usually need an acknowledgment
• If they are swearing to the truth of the contents (like an affidavit), they need a jurat (oath)
• Attach or write in the appropriate notarial certificate, then complete it with all four required elements

It is not your job to choose the notarial act for the client, but you can explain the difference between an acknowledgment and a jurat so they can decide. If they still are not sure, suggest they check with the person or agency that requested the notarization.

Loose Certificates

Sometimes the document has no room for a notarial certificate. In that case, you attach a separate loose certificate to the document. The loose certificate should reference the document (by name or description and number of pages) so it cannot be detached and used on a different document later. Keep a supply of blank acknowledgment and jurat certificates with your notary supplies for these situations.

Frequently Asked Questions