Too funny. Linda and I posted at the same time. When a principal signs a POA, this requires a thumbprint in your journal. Also, a Deed of Trust requires a thumbprint in your journal. The only thumbprint is the person you I.D. and that appeared before you.
@jmalone wrote:
Hi notarywelove. I am assuming you are in California. You state the wife is the AIF for her husband.
She is the person who physically appeared before you, only her name goes into your notarial certificates, because she is the only one who personally appeared.In your journal, hers is the only information you record. Remember we notarize signatures. It is not our responsibility to know if she actually has this power.
You can add a note in your journal that states she is signing as AIF for her husband, Joe Doe. Keep it simple.
Yes. I am in California. The Deed of trust calls for both husband and wife's signatures. So the wife signs for herself, and she also signs for her husband as his AIF in their Deed of Trust doc.
So, may I recap and hopefully get this right this time:
1) I make one entry in my journal for the wife (because she is the principal who presents in front of me).
2) I make one entry in my journal for the husband's AIF = (in this case, the wife). (because this AIF signs in front of me).
As the AIF's ID, I take her ID again, record it and ask her to sign her husband's name + attorney-in-fact, and thumb print her.
3) If a notary public didn't do #2 (thinking that the person signs happens to be the AIF of other person in the same document), can the notary public make an addendum to recapture AIF's signature later on?
She tried to contact the CA gov but no one could give me any answer except directing her back to the handbook. 🙂
Thanks a lot to all of your replies.
Yes. I am in California. The Deed of trust calls for both husband and wife's signatures. So the wife signs for herself, and she also signs for her husband as his AIF in their Deed of Trust doc.
So, may I recap and hopefully get this right this time:
1) I make one entry in my journal for the wife (because she is the principal who presents in front of me).
2) I make one entry in my journal for the husband's AIF = (in this case, the wife). (because this AIF signs in front of me).
As the AIF's ID, I take her ID again, record it and ask her to sign her husband's name + attorney-in-fact, and thumb print her.
3) If a notary public didn't do #2 (thinking that the person signs happens to be the AIF of other person in the same document), can the notary public make an addendum to recapture AIF's signature later on?
She tried to contact the CA gov but no one could give me any answer except directing her back to the handbook.
You know notarywelove, you really got my brain working here. I posed the question to other notaries and posted on another board. This is the type of questions, they SHOULD have on the notary exam.
The consensus is:
In your notarial certificate you only put the name of the individual before you, whom you I.D.'d. Therefore, it is just the individual who appeared before you that you put in your journal with their signature, I.D. info. and thumbprint.
In optional notes in your journal, you can put that this individual was also the AIF for John Doe.
You would not put a separate entry for her husband. She cannot put a thumbprint for her husband either. Attorney in Fact is a capacity. This is used for signing the documents. The only person in the journal is the person who appeared before you.
Ooops! Sorry, put the quotes wrong above. Hope you get the gist.
Hmmmm, we didn't go over this scenario in class.
So as an AIF, do they have to prove that they are indeed the AIF? Otherwise, how do we know they have the right to sign for the husband? If she doesn't have the right, wouldn't the document be incomplete or false?
Or, as the Notary, are we just notarizing the AIF's affirmation that she is indeed the AIF?
