FAQ

The following documents are acceptable if it is current or has been issued within the past 5 years and bears a serial or another identifying number:

• A Florida identification card or driver license issued by the public agency authorized to issue driver licenses
• A passport issued by the Department of State of the United States
• A passport issued by a foreign government if the document is stamped by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services
• A driver license or an identification card issued by a public agency authorized to issue driver licenses in a state other than Florida, a territory of the United States, or Canada or Mexico
• An identification card issued by any branch of the armed forces of the United States
• An inmate identification card issued on or after January 1, 1991, by the Florida Department of Corrections for an inmate who is in the custody of the department
• An inmate identification card issued by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, for an inmate who is in the custody of the department
• A sworn, written statement from a sworn law enforcement officer that the forms of identification for an inmate in an institution of confinement were confiscated upon confinement and that the person named in the document is the person whose signature is to be notarized
• An identification card issued by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services

• Provide legal advice. Under Florida Statue §454.23, only licensed attorneys may provide legal advice. We at Alexandria Notary Services are not licensed attorneys, so we cannot give legal advice while providing notarial services. The Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) is a felony offense of the 3^rd degree in the state of Florida. Legal advice includes but not limited to:
  • Providing advice or an opinion about the contents of the document
  • Providing advice on how to fill out, draft or complete a document
  • Providing legal advice or answering questions related to a legal matter
  • Drafting, creating or modifying documents
  • Choosing the notarial certificate needed for a document if there is no notarial certificate included within the document. (Note: If this may apply to you, please ask the provider of the document which certificate is needed.)
• Take the acknowledgment of or administer an oath to a person whom the notary public actually knows to have been adjudicated mentally incapacitated by a court of competent jurisdiction, where the acknowledgment or oath necessitates the exercise of a right that has been removed pursuant to s. 744.3215(2) or (3), and where the person has not been restored to capacity as a matter of record.” Fla. Stat. §117.107(4)
• Notarize a signature on a document if it appears that the person is mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the document at the time of notarization.” Fla. Stat. §117.107(5)
• Take the acknowledgment of a person who does not speak or understand the English language, unless the nature and effect of the instrument to be notarized is translated into a language which the person does understand.” Fla. Stat. §117.107(6)
• Notarize a signature on a document if the person whose signature is being notarized is not in the presence of the notary public at the time the signature is notarized.
• A notary public may not notarize a signature on a document if the document is incomplete or blank.

Your document will usually have a notarial certificate on the document that will determine the type of notarial act you will need. In the event that there is not a notarial certificate on your document or the present certificate is missing elements required by state law, you as the signer must select the notarial act needed for your document and we will provide the appropriate certificate. We cannot advise you on what notarial act you need or select a certificate for you. The two possible options for notarial acts are:

• Oath/Jurat: Swearing or affirming that the information presented in the document is true. Note that an verbal oath must be given by the signer and cannot be executed until the document is 100% complete.

• Acknowledgement: Acknowledging that the signature presented on the document is your own and that you are signing the document of your own free will.

In the event that your document is rejected due to an incorrect notarial act, we will re-do the notarization free of charge