Already signed, or signed in front of me

The question I hear is whether you should sign the document before I arrive. The answer is on the page, in the notarial certificate. I do not choose the act. I do not cross out an acknowledgment and write in a jurat, and I do not do the reverse, because someone asks me to just stamp it.

An acknowledgment is a statement that you signed the document, and that you are the person named in it. You may have signed it before the appointment. You still have to appear before me and acknowledge that the signature is yours. Government Code § 406.0091 requires that appearance. I do not acknowledge a signature for a person who has already left. If two people signed, each one appears for their own signature.

A jurat is different. You sign in front of me, and you swear or affirm that the contents of the document are true. Do not sign that page the night before. If it is already signed, I cannot treat it as if I watched the signature, and I will not administer an oath over a signature I did not see made. The signature line stays blank until you are there.

The fee follows the act. An acknowledgment is $10 for the first signature and $1 for each additional signature. An oath or a jurat is $10. Those are the amounts in Government Code § 406.024. I do not add a fee on top of them for the act itself. Travel, time of day, a hospital or a jail, and waiting are separate lines, and only when the act is performed.

If the document has no certificate, I do not draft one and I do not tell you which wording you need. That is legal advice. Bring the document the way the office, the court, or the attorney prepared it. If you are not sure which certificate the receiving office wants, ask that office before we meet. A lender, a clerk, or a title company decides whether to accept the certificate. I do not.

If the signature and the certificate do not match, I do not perform the act. There is no charge. We can set another time after the document is ready. I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, and I may not give legal advice or accept a fee for legal advice.