Also known as: certificates of acknowledgment · acknowledgment certificate · certificate of acknowledgement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal declaration by a notary public or other authorized officer confirming that a signer personally appeared and acknowledged executing a document. The declaration supplies the indicia of regularity that allows the accompanying instrument to be treated as authentic on its face.
Cody Callahan sues Cascade Manufacturing over an early termination fee. Cascade offers a lease addendum bearing Callahan's initials and a notary's signed certificate stating that Callahan appeared and acknowledged signing the addendum. Callahan objects that he never met the notary. The court overrules the objection because the certificate itself satisfies the authentication requirement.
Corinne Cho conveys a mineral interest to Crestview Holdings by deed. The deed is recorded with a certificate of acknowledgment signed by a county clerk. Years later Cho's heir claims the deed is invalid because the grantor never actually appeared before the clerk. The court holds that the facially regular certificate permits the deed to be admitted and given effect for recording purposes.
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Yes. When a document is accompanied by a lawfully executed certificate of acknowledgment, the rules treat the document as self-authenticating. The proponent need not call the notary or any other witness solely to establish that the document is what it purports to be.
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Yes. The certificate must be lawfully executed. Discrepancies such as an expired commission number or mismatched identifying information can show that the certificate was not lawfully executed and therefore destroy self-authenticating status.
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No. The rule focuses on whether the certificate appears lawfully executed on its face. An employment connection between the notary and a party may affect weight but does not prevent the document from qualifying as self-authenticating.
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The document is admitted as authenticated. Claims of forgery go to the weight the trier of fact should give the document rather than to its threshold admissibility.
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…the defect is latent. Perhaps the most common instance of this nature arises when an instrument is placed of record bearing a certificate of acknowledgment sufficient on its face despite the fact that the statutory procedure for acknowledgment has not been followed. See Annotations 19 A.L.R. 1074; 72 A.L.R. 1039. The certificate of…