I had a client today come in and tried to have an original college degree not a copy ( copy certification by document custodian) notarized which wasn't his. I alerted him that I would not be able to do it since his name was the one on the document. He then told me that it was also going to need an apostille. I told him that the person who's degree it was needed to come in and do it. I spent over 30 minutes explaining the same thing over and over. I didn't want to be rude to him and tell him to leave. I was hoping that he would get the hint that, I could not and was not going to do it. But to no avail he didn't. He took another 15 minuted of my time arguing with me and i realized that he was not going to leave until he had it notarized. He bascially rejected everything I said. After 45 minutes of him arguing me down and him being extermely pushy ,insistent and, on the borderline of rudeness. I finally did a Jurat for it with his name on it and the type of document it was and crossed out the section behind his name so he could not enter anyone else's name after it.
What should I have done? Was there anything that I would have been able to do other than what I did? What do you think the outcome will be when he tries to submit it to have the apostille done?
I'm so confused and stresses. 😐
Not knowing all the circumstances, and not quite understanding what was being requested, it's difficult to say. But I do know one thing you should not have done is buckled. If you did not feel you were doing a proper notarization or an authorized notarial act, you should not have done anything for him. I don't care what people say, think, threaten - if you're not comfortable with doing what they want you must send them respectfully apologize and let them know you can't help him. If they continue to be belligerant, I'd call the police and ask they be removed. You never risk your commission simply to appease someone.
Now, that being said, question is what was he asking for? Was he signing the college degree (as in was he the signatory on it and it was his signature you were notarizing?); or was he just asking that you validate the degree in his hand (which you can't do). There is a process for college transcripts and such which are going out of the country and it involves much more than just the notary's cert on it but the notary IS initially involved - notary is the first step in the process.
JMO
CaNotary2015.....I'm confused as to your question. I agree with Linda, you never let anyone intimidate you into doing something illegal. What exactly did you notarize and who chose the Jurat?
Hi Linda and Jmalone
Thank you for your replies.
@ Linda he was asking for the original college degree to be notarized. He did sign, print his name and dated the degree. Yes it was his signature that I was notarizing. He did not ask me to validate the degree. I've done things for people before with docs that were going out of the country. I've always had people do Copy Certification By Document Custodian for that. It was good enough but this was the 1st time I've had a person ask for the original document to be notarized so they could have an apostille for it. He also chose the Jurat not I.
@Jmalone
Sorry for the confusion.It was an original Stanford college degree and the client chose the Jurat not I. I explained to him that I was not able to give him any advice on what to choose or how to go about doing this particular notarization. I stated to him that the person who told him to have it notarized should have given him clear and specific instructions as what she wanted him to exactly do Which she did not. I told him that I am only there to verify his signature and could not give and advice to what he should do.
" I alerted him that I would not be able to do it since his name was the one on the document. He then told me that it was also going to need an apostille. I told him that the person who's degree it was needed to come in and do it. "
The above statement really confuses me. Especially that you "told him that the person who's degree it was needed to come in and do it".
Was it his degree? If you did a Jurat, did you have him resign the document in front of you? I'm sorry, I still don't understand. Are you saying you did a , "Jurat with Affiant Statement"?
