Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney with Schroeder Law LLC in Ottawa. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at lee@leeschroeder.com or at (419) 523-5523. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
A notary public typically does two things on every document they sign: Add their signature after the person signing the document, and after one of the major paragraphs. There are two types of major paragraphs, a jurat paragraph and an acknowledgment paragraph.
Jurat paragraphs are used for documents in which the person signing is verifying that everything on the document is truthful. Acknowledgment paragraphs are used in real estate documents to verify the identity of the person signing the document.
A notary public (commonly called a “notary”) is someone licensed by the local clerk of courts to “notarize” documents.
A notary will sign the notary’s name following the signature of someone personally involved in the document. A notary will sign the notary’s name immediately following one or the other of two major paragraphs.
Source: LimaOhio.com, Legal-Ease: What is a ‘notary’? by Lee R. Schroeder, November 22, 2014