Important things to know before you see any notary
All signers:
Must appear before the notary. If not all signers can be present, we can notarize the ones that are, but absent signers will require another notarization.
Must present a non-expired government-issued picture ID that contains the bearer's signature. Driver's licenses or passports are ideal. Social Security cards, credit cards, birth certificates and corporate ID cards are not acceptable.
Must be aware of their surroundings, have a general understanding of the document they're signing and understand the implications of signing it. We cannot notarize a document if we believe the signer doesn't understand the document's meaning or importance.
Must sign the document willingly. We cannot notarize a document if we believe the signer is being forced or tricked into signing it.
Must speak English. Unfortunately, we speak only English at Peekskill Notary. We cannot notarize for someone we can't have a conversation with. And we cannot use interpreters. New York forbids the use of interpreters, as do almost all other states. Your only choice is to find a notary who can speak the signer's language.
The document:
Must be completely filled out. We cannot notarize a document with blank spaces or missing information.
Must be whole. Please bring the entire document with you. We cannot notarize the last page of a document if the other pages aren't present.
If the document requires witnesses:
Witnesses must be present for the signing. We can provide one witness, with limited availability and for an additional fee.
Witnesses cannot be related to any signer, and they must not benefit from or have a financial stake in the document being signed.
Witnesses must present a non-expired government-issued picture ID that contains their signature.
Notaries CANNOT:
Notarize generic wills. We can only notarize wills that contain a witness attestation clause. If you're not sure, send us an image of the signature page.
"Certify" birth certificates or other life records. Certified copies of life records can only be obtained from the state and county offices that file and maintain them.
Give legal advice. If you have questions about a document you need to notarize, please refer to the company or organization that's asking you to get it notarized. Notaries are forbidden by law to give even simple or common-sense advice.
What we do with your data.
Scheduling data. We collect contact information (name, phone number, email address and home address) for every person we meet face-to-face. This data is maintained indefinitely in a secure encrypted contact system. If you contact us but we never notarize for you, we don't keep your data.
Notarization data. For each notarization, we record your name, address, parts of the ID number and expiration date from your ID, the type of document, the type of notarization performed, the date and time, the fee charged and the location where the notarization took place. This information is recorded manually into a hard-copy log book. There are no electronic copies. The log book is the personal property of the notary and is retained indefinitely. Information from the log book is only shared with authorities under a court order or subpoena. Its purpose is to protect the notary and the signer by proving that a notarization was performed legally and correctly.