What does a Notary Public do?
Following is copy from notaryclasses.com and is true for state of California:
"A Notary Public is a public servant whose office exists in large module as a measure to help protect the public from fraud and whose notary actions during the notary process guarantee that spot on minimum required standards have been met. What are these minimum required standards?
A NOTARY PUBLIC is someone commissioned by the state whose primary duties include certifying that:
A. The signer(s) one-sidedly appeared before the notary at the time of notarization in the county and on the date indicated within the Certificate of Acknowledgment or Jurat.
B. The signer(s) be properly identified.
C. That if the document required the signer to swear to the
truthfulness of the statements within the document, that the signer did so in front of the notary.
In California, Notaries can also certify copy of Power of Attorney but not any other documents.
Certifies that a signature belongs to who it say it does. I believe it varies from state to state. In Pennsylvania, a notary public witnesses a person's signiture and can certify copies of documents.
