Is Notarizing a Family Members' Documents Legal in Court?
A Notary Public is a public servant who is mandated by the state government to witness the signing of important documents and administer oaths. The notary is oftentimes an impartial witness who identifies legitimate signers to a document to ensure that they have entered into agreements knowingly and willingly.
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Proving Impartiality
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Impartiality is a prerequisite for a notary public to undertake their work. This is to ensure that the notary does not engage in unprofessional and fraudulent practices that may favor him. With regard to notarizing documents for family members, proving impartiality is not obviously straightforward. Direct beneficial interest is greatest where immediate family members are involved such as spouses, children, siblings and parents. Where non-lineal descendants are involved such as in-laws, aunts, uncles and their offspring, conflicting interests are more likely to be averted.
Legality
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States have differing laws and regulations about notarizing documents for family members. In Massachusetts, it is completely not allowed, while in California there are provisions to allow for this as long as there are no direct interests. Overall, all states have statutes that prohibit a direct interest in the matter at hand. However, most state laws do not expressly prohibit notarizing for a family member. Often notary publics are urged to refrain from legalizing documents belonging to immediate relatives due to the vested interest.
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Validity of Notarization
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In those states where it is prohibited to notarize a relative's documents, the notarization will not be valid in a court of law. In fact, if the signer later decides to challenge the notarization, the notarization, and possibly the entire transaction, could be considered void. A notary public is at risk if he notarizes documents in which he cannot prove impartiality. However, a notarization is valid as long as it is seen to have no immediate conflicting interests and both the notary and the signer are competent.
Notarizing Apostille
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An apostille is an internationally recognized form of authentication in which countries have agreed to recognize public documents issued by other countries if those public documents are authenticated. It is a one-page document issued by the Secretary of State and embossed with the Great Seal of a State. The apostille includes the facsimile signature of the notary issuing the certificate. In such cases a notary pubic may be allowed to notarize the public documents for their relatives. But the authenticity and validity of the documents has to be preserved to ensure the documents are accepted by the receiving country.
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