Notarial Certificate

A loose or separate Notarial Certificate is what has been described in this write-up thus far. It is a Notarial Certificate separate and apart from the original document to be notarized. A notary public would have these certificates on hand (and it may be the reason you are getting yours) and he or she may staple one or more certificates to a document being notarized. Besides a lack of space on the original document, a Notarial Certificate can also be used to accommodate additional statements about the act of notarization.

No, it is not one’s social security number more commonly abbreviated as SSN. On a Notarial Certificate, SS is short for Scilicet, Latin for "in particular" or "namely," in reference to the venue of the certificate issuance. It may interest you to learn that a Notarial Certificate is valid without the SS section filled out.

Notary publics abide by the rules and oath of the trade, for which a violation could lead to a revocation of the license. For one, a notary public is expected to recuse him or herself when there is an apparent conflict of interest. A notary public does not notarize a blank document or alter a document in any fashion after the act of notarization.

Generally, this is not something that a notary public does, as any notary public worth his or her salt would be able to summon another warm body to bear witness to the signature or signatures that he or she is to notarize. While there is not an explicit prohibition, it could easily fall into the category of conflict of interest when one is the notary public of record for the same document.

This is not in the purview of notaries public in most states except for Florida, Maine, Nevada, and South Carolina. Of course, this is available by choice and the notary public would have to fulfill the requirements specific to a state.