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It’s Apostille Season – Are You Ready?
This is one of the busiest times of the year for the Montana Secretary of State’s Notary Division – when the demand for certification of documents is at its peak. The Secretary of State is the Competent Authority for issuing Apostilles and Authentications for Montana documents that are being sent to foreign countries. Notaries public don’t issue Apostilles, but their responsibility in the process is critical: If the document is not notarized properly, we can’t certify the document.
Many of the documents requiring Apostilles can be problematic for notaries because they frequently are written in a foreign language and either have non-compliant or non-existent notarial certificates. These are challenges that notaries should be able to overcome. Montana notaries may notarize documents written in a language they don’t read or understand: The notary’s responsibility is to take reasonable care to determine that the signer understands what the document is and is “knowingly and willingly executing the document for the purposes intended.”
The most frustrating thing for many notaries is dealing with documents that do not have a notarial certificate or the pre-printed certificate language is not in English or is in some other way not compliant with Montana law.
The important thing to remember is that the notarial certificate must be in English. It is not acceptable to complete a certificate that is in any other language – even if the notary is fluent in the other language. If the document has certificates in both languages, only complete the English certificate. If the notarial certificate is not in English, or if there is no notarial certificate at all, a notary can use a “loose certificate” and attach it to the document. Montana notarial certificates may be downloaded from our website at Templates for Notary Certificates - Montana Secretary of State - Christi Jacobsen (sosmt.gov).
Customers who need their documents Apostilled are usually under a time crunch; they are planning to travel abroad, or they are involved in some type of time-sensitive legal transaction related to a property or an inheritance. A notary’s failure to properly complete the notarization will delay the process and add to the stress and frustration of the situation.
Chapter 5 of the Montana Notary Public Handbook has more detailed information about notarizing documents written in a foreign language. Be ready and able to accurately accommodate these requests with confidence.
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