A notary public is a public servant who is appointed by a state official such as a governor, state secretary or a lieutenant governor. This professional can also be appointed by the state legislature. In Pennsylvania, notaries are empowered to perform a number of official acts. They take verifications, affidavits, depositions and acknowledgements, administer affirmations and oaths, certify copies of documents and protest dishonored negotiable instruments.

Notarial officers are not allowed to offer legal advice or draft documents such as wills, mortgages, leases, contracts, liens, bonds or powers of attorney. Therefore, notaries cannot assist their clients to prepare documents that need notarization. By working with a notary public Philadelphia PA resident can signify the fact that the documents they have signed are valid and ensure that fraudulent transactions do not take place.

If you want to have a certain legal document notarized, you should appear before a notarial officer and provide him or her with document that contains your name and a photograph. Examples of such documents are military IDs, drivers licenses and passports. Notarial officers are not required to have a lot of prior knowledge or specialized training. They are only required to pass an exam and undergo a background check in order to get a license.

Identities are very important and therefore, a notary public will spend some time verifying your name and those of other people who are signing a document. After a notarial officer certifies a document, he or she will seal it with a notarial seal and record the task in a register. This officer can help you avoid being a victim of forgery, fraud, misrepresentation or scams.

Notarial officers help deter fraud because of the many requirements that need to be met before legal documents are notarized. One of these requirements is that you and other people signing a legal document have to do so in front of the notarial officer. This makes it difficult for imposters to try to get a phony document notarized.

A notarial officer will also verify whether the people who are signing a legal document know the reason for doing so and that they do so under their own free will. This helps to prevent forced transactions from taking place. Notarial officers also check the legal documents thoroughly to ensure that they are complete before you sign them. In this way, you will not sign a blank document that can be used for a different purpose.

Notaries are also required to record all transactions they notarize in a notarial journal. This journal becomes part of public records and serves as a paper trail that can be used as evidence if an act of fraud occurred or was attempted. In times when dealing with strangers is the norm, requiring certain documents to be notarized provides a significant level of protection against fraud.

You can find a notarial officer in various institutions or use the services of a mobile notary public. Some notarial officers work in banks. Banks hire them to ensure that any legal document that needs to be notarized can be officially witnessed by the notarial officers on their premises. They also work in government offices, police precincts, law firms and courthouses.

Get a brief summary of the factors to consider when choosing a provider of notary services and more information about an experienced notary public Philadelphia PA area at http://www.statewideagency.com now.