Notarial Acts, Step by Step

Pennsylvania’s Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) authorizes a notary public to perform exactly six notarial acts — and no others. Each has its own statutory duties under 57 Pa.C.S. § 305, its own short-form certificate language under § 316, and its own maximum fee under the 2026 rule at 4 Pa. Code § 167.3. Get the act wrong, or use the wrong certificate, and the document can be challenged — or prosecuted.

TL;DR — the six permitted notarial acts

The statutory definition of “notarial act” at 57 Pa.C.S. § 302 lists six, and only six:

1. Acknowledgment — signer declares that they signed the record voluntarily.
2. Verification on oath or affirmation (the “jurat”) — signer signs in your presence and swears the contents are true.
3. Oath or affirmation (standalone) — you administer a sworn promise with no document attached.
4. Witnessing or attesting a signature — signer signs in your presence; you attest to the signing (no oath).
5. Certifying or attesting a copy (including a deposition transcript) — you compare a copy to an original and certify it.
6. Noting a protest of a negotiable instrument — you formally record that a check or bill of exchange was dishonored.

Anything a notary is asked to do that does not fit one of these six slots is either not a notarial act at all (“I’d like you to witness a meeting”) or a prohibited act. RULONA is a closed list.

One clarification on the 2026 rule: witnessing a signature is not a new act, but the March 28, 2026 final regulations (56 Pa.B. 1672) made it fee-separable — a notary may now charge $5 for witnessing or attesting a signature per signature under 4 Pa. Code § 167.3, independent of any acknowledgment or verification fee.

What every notarial act requires — the common core

Before drilling into act-by-act procedure, commit the common core to memory. Every act except a standalone oath and a copy certification of a non-record item shares these elements.

Personal appearance (§ 306)

“If a notarial act relates to a statement made in or a signature executed on a record, the individual making the statement or executing the signature shall appear personally before the notarial officer.” — 57 Pa.C.S. § 306

“Personally” means in the physical presence of the notary, unless the notary is performing a remote act under § 306.1 on approved communication-technology software. No phone calls. No FaceTime with a non-approved app. No pre-signed documents brought in by a third party. No “I know them, they told me it’s fine.” The April 2025 indictment of Philadelphia notary Gwendolyn Schell — roughly 250 counts across 8 charge categories for notarizing deeds on 21 stolen homes — is the most visible recent reminder that § 306 is the bright line between a lawful acknowledgment and a felony (see Commonwealth v. Schell, Phila. C.P. 2025).

Identification (§ 307)

The notary must be satisfied of the signer’s identity through one of two paths under 57 Pa.C.S. § 307:

• Personal knowledge — “through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the individual has the identity claimed.” Family, close neighbors, long-standing clients. Casual acquaintance is not enough.
• Satisfactory evidence — a current and unexpired passport, driver’s license, or government-issued non-driver ID; or another government ID that is current and bears a signature or photograph. A credible-witness oath is available where the witness is personally known to the notary.

Expired IDs — even by a day — are disqualifying.

Journal entry (§ 319)

“A notary public shall maintain a journal in which the notary public records in chronological order all notarial acts that the notary public performs.” — 57 Pa.C.S. § 319(a)

Every act goes in — even $0 “favor” acts. The required entries under § 319(c) are date and time, description of the record and act type, full name and address of each individual, the identification method used (with ID credential details if satisfactory evidence), and the fee charged. The 2026 rule (4 Pa. Code § 167.71) also prohibits recording any digits of a signer’s Social Security number in the journal.

Stamp and signature (§ 315, § 317)

The certificate must be signed with the exact legal name on the commission and bear the rectangular rubber stamp described in § 317 — and under the 2026 rule, the stamp must now display the notary’s seven-digit commission ID (4 Pa. Code § 167.21(b)(5)).

Fee (§ 323; 4 Pa. Code § 167.3)

The 2026 fee maximums at 4 Pa. Code § 167.3 are the legal ceiling. A notary may charge less or waive — but never more. For a per-act calculation, use our fee calculator.

The 7-step checklist — before every notarization

1. Confirm the document is complete and has a notarial certificate (or attach a loose certificate before starting).
2. Confirm the signer is personally present — physically, or on an approved RON platform under § 306.1.
3. Identify the signer per § 307 — personal knowledge or a current, unexpired qualifying ID.
4. Confirm competence, capacity, and voluntariness — the § 308 refusal grounds.
5. Perform the act-specific duty (see below) — acknowledgment, oath administration, signature witnessing, or copy comparison.
6. Complete the certificate contemporaneously and sign/stamp it per § 315 — never before the act, never blank.
7. Journal the act with all § 319(c) fields — and collect the fee, if any, within the § 167.3 ceiling.

That’s the skeleton. Everything below is muscle.

Act 1: Acknowledgment (§ 305(a))

An acknowledgment is the most common notarial act. Deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney, trust instruments, and most recordable instruments require one.

“Acknowledgment. — A declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that: (1) the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record; and (2) if the record is signed in a representative capacity, the individual signed the record with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the record.” — 57 Pa.C.S. § 302

Critical feature

The signer does not have to sign in your presence. The document may have been signed earlier that morning, yesterday, or last week. What the statute requires is that the signer appear personally before the notary, be identified, and verbally declare that the signature is theirs and was made for the purpose stated.

What the signer must say (or acknowledge)

No magic words. A simple question suffices:

• “Is this your signature?” — Yes.
• “Did you sign this voluntarily, for the purpose stated in the document?” — Yes.

That acknowledgment is the notarial act. RULONA does not require the signer to raise a hand or take an oath for an acknowledgment — that is the distinguishing feature versus a jurat.

Act-specific duty under § 305(a)

The notary must determine, from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence, that (1) the individual appearing has the identity claimed, and (2) the signature on the record is that individual’s signature.

Certificate — short form under § 316(1)

The § 316 short-form template for an acknowledgment in an individual capacity reads substantially as follows (field labels preserved from the statute):

State of Pennsylvania County of ____________ This record was acknowledged before me on (date) by (name(s) of individual(s)). ____________________ (Signature of notarial officer) (Stamp) (Title of office) My commission expires: ____________

A representative-capacity acknowledgment under § 316(2) adds the phrase “as (type of authority, such as officer or trustee) of (name of party on behalf of whom record was executed).” The attorney-at-law short form at § 316(2.1) adds the attorney’s PA Supreme Court identification number.

Fee (2026)

$5 for the first name in the certificate; $2 for each additional name in the same certificate (4 Pa. Code § 167.3).

Common mistakes

• Using acknowledgment language when the document is an affidavit. If the header says “being duly sworn” or “subscribed and sworn to,” it is a verification (jurat), not an acknowledgment. Using the wrong certificate on an affidavit means the contents were never actually sworn — the document fails its evidentiary purpose.
• Filling in the wrong county. The venue is the county where the notary is physically located, not the signer’s county or the property’s county. In re Jones, 308 B.R. 223 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2003), confirms that a PA notary may acknowledge a record statewide — but the certificate must recite the county of performance.
• Omitting the date. The certificate is executed contemporaneously; a missing date is a § 315(a)(2)(i) defect.

Act 2: Verification on oath or affirmation — the “jurat” (§ 305(b))

A verification on oath or affirmation — universally called a “jurat” in practice — is what converts a statement into sworn testimony. Affidavits, sworn statements, self-proving wills’ affidavits, and most court-facing documents use it.

“Verification on oath or affirmation. — A declaration, made by an individual on oath or affirmation before a notarial officer, that a statement in a record is true. The term includes an affidavit.” — 57 Pa.C.S. § 302

Critical features

1. The signer must sign in your presence. This is the bright-line difference from an acknowledgment.
2. The signer must swear or affirm that the contents of the document are true — under oath, before signing or contemporaneously with signing. This is the step most commonly skipped.

A notary who stamps a jurat without administering an oath has committed the very violation that triggered the DOS commission surrender in In re Lori S. Sobol (voluntary surrender effective November 30, 2022, published in the March 2023 BPOA Disciplinary Actions bulletin) — not a technicality, but a core RULONA breach.

The ceremony — word for word

Ask the signer to raise their right hand. Say, for an oath:

“Do you swear that the statements contained in this document are true and correct to the best of your knowledge, so help you God?”

Or, for an affirmation — which RULONA requires the notary to offer as an alternative for anyone who objects on religious or conscientious grounds:

“Do you solemnly affirm, under the penalties of perjury, that the statements contained in this document are true and correct to the best of your knowledge?”

The signer answers “I do” (or “I swear” / “I affirm”), then signs the document in your presence. Then you complete the certificate.

Oath and affirmation are legally equivalent. Pennsylvania also criminalizes false sworn and unsworn statements to authorities under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 — the perjury exposure does not require the word “God.”

Act-specific duty under § 305(b)

Same identity and signature determinations as § 305(a), plus administration of the oath/affirmation itself.

Certificate — short form under § 316(3)

State of Pennsylvania County of ____________ Signed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on (date) by (name(s) of individual(s) making statement). ____________________ (Signature of notarial officer) (Stamp) (Title of office) My commission expires: ____________

The words “Signed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me” are the hallmark. If you see them on a printed certificate, it is a jurat — and an oath must be administered before you sign and stamp.

When to use verification vs. acknowledgment

• If the document contains factual assertions that the signer is declaring to be true (an affidavit, a sworn statement, a certification of income, a verification pleading in court) — use a jurat.
• If the document transfers or acknowledges an intent already signed (a deed, mortgage, POA, or most contracts) — use an acknowledgment.
• When the printed certificate leaves it ambiguous, read the words at the top of the certificate block. “Acknowledged before me” = acknowledgment. “Subscribed and sworn to” or “Signed and sworn to” = jurat. Ask the requesting attorney when unsure.

Fee (2026)

$5 per individual making the declaration (4 Pa. Code § 167.3).

Act 3: Oath or affirmation — standalone (§ 302; § 306)

A standalone oath has no document — the notary simply administers a sworn promise. It is rare in day-to-day practice but important. Uses: swearing in a public official who has no written oath card; swearing a translator before a deposition; administering an oath to a witness at a private proceeding.

Because there is no “record” involved, § 306’s personal-appearance rule still applies by its own terms (“a statement made in or a signature executed on a record”), but the § 305 act-specific duties in subsections (a)–(d) do not fit — there is no signature to match to an ID.

The ceremony

Right hand raised. Administer:

“Do you swear (or affirm) that the testimony (or statements, or duties) you are about to give (or perform) will be true and faithful to the best of your knowledge?”

Record the act in the journal with a description of what was sworn to and the identity of the person sworn.

Certificate

No statutory short form exists at § 316 specifically for a standalone oath — because § 316 templates assume a record is being signed. If the recipient needs written proof, a notary may issue a separate certificate that (under § 315(c)(4)) “sets forth the actions sufficient to meet §§ 305, 306 [and] 307.” A sample form of wording:

State of Pennsylvania, County of ____________. On (date), (name) personally appeared before me, was identified, and took the following oath (or affirmation) before me: “(quote the oath administered).” ____________________ (Signature of notarial officer) (Stamp) (Title of office) My commission expires: ____________

That wording is not drawn from § 316; it is assembled to satisfy § 315(a)‘s core fields. Best practice is to avoid issuing freestanding oath certificates unless asked — most requesters actually want a jurat on a written statement instead.

Fee (2026)

$5 per individual taking the oath or affirmation (4 Pa. Code § 167.3).

Act 4: Witnessing or attesting a signature (§ 305(c))

Witnessing a signature is the closest act to what a non-lawyer layperson thinks a notary does: you watch someone sign, then you sign and stamp. No oath. No acknowledgment declaration. Just attested signing.

Critical feature

The signer must sign in your presence — you are certifying the act of signing, not the identity-plus-voluntariness declaration of an acknowledgment.

When to use it

• A printed certificate saying “Witnessed by me on (date)” or “Signed before me” (without the “sworn to” language) — that is a signature witnessing.
• A document that requires a witnessed signature but is not an affidavit and is not being recorded as a conveyance — some healthcare directives, some personal agreements, some corporate resolutions.
• Under the 2026 final regulations (4 Pa. Code § 167.3), this is the act whose fee is now separately enumerated at $5 per signature — not new as an act, but newly priced as a standalone line item.

Act-specific duty under § 305(c)

Same identity and signature determinations as § 305(a). But unlike an acknowledgment, you must actually watch the signature happen.

Certificate — short form under § 316(4)

State of Pennsylvania County of ____________ Signed (or attested) before me on (date) by (name(s) of individual(s)). ____________________ (Signature of notarial officer) (Stamp) (Title of office) My commission expires: ____________

Fee (2026)

$5 per signature witnessed or attested (4 Pa. Code § 167.3).

Act 5: Certifying or attesting a copy (§ 305(d))

A copy certification — sometimes styled “certified true copy” — is the notary’s attestation that a copy is a faithful reproduction of an original record. The key act-specific duty is the comparison itself.

“For a notarial act performed with respect to a copy of a record or item, the notarial officer shall determine that the copy is a complete and accurate transcription or reproduction of the record or item.” — 57 Pa.C.S. § 305(d)

What you can certify

• Private records whose originals you have examined: diplomas, personal letters, private contracts not requiring public recordation, bylaws, corporate resolutions, trust instruments in the possession of the trustee, family photographs, and the like.
• Tangible copies of electronic records — under § 304(c), a notary may certify that a tangible (paper) copy of an electronic record is a true and correct copy of that electronic record. This “papering out” is a modern addition and matters for e-signed contracts printed for recordation.

What you cannot certify

• Vital records — birth, death, and marriage certificates are issued by the PA Department of Health’s Division of Vital Records. Only that agency can certify those copies. A notary who does so risks disciplinary action and enables document fraud.
• Government-issued identity documents — passports, Social Security cards, naturalization certificates, and driver’s licenses. Each has its own certification pathway at the issuing federal or state agency.
• Recorded public records where a certified copy from the recorder of deeds is required by statute.

The procedure

1. Examine the original. If you do not have the original in hand (or, for electronic records, logically associated and accessible to you), decline.
2. Compare the copy to the original page by page. Check for pagination, missing pages, altered text, and reproduction quality.
3. Complete the § 316(5) short-form certificate and attach or associate it with the copy — not with the original.

Certificate — short form under § 316(5)

State of Pennsylvania County of ____________ I certify that this is a true and correct copy of a (description of record) in the possession of (name of person). Dated: ____________ ____________________ (Signature of notarial officer) (Stamp) (Title of office) My commission expires: ____________

A deposition transcript is certified using the separate § 316(6) short form for a “transcript of a deposition.” That is a court-reporter-adjacent act; most notaries will not encounter it outside civil litigation support.

Fee (2026)

$5 per certified copy (4 Pa. Code § 167.3).

Act 6: Noting a protest of a negotiable instrument (§ 305(e))

A protest is a formal certificate of dishonor for a negotiable instrument — most often a check or bill of exchange that has been presented for payment and refused. In modern practice, banks handle this internally; notaries rarely see it outside international commercial transactions or a bank’s in-house documentation.

Act-specific duty under § 305(e)

The notary must determine the matters set forth in 13 Pa.C.S. § 3505(b) — the UCC’s evidence-of-dishonor provision. Under 13 Pa.C.S. § 3505, a protest may be made upon information satisfactory to the notary and must identify the instrument and certify that presentment has been made or that presentment is excused. The protest must be signed and stamped by the notary.

When to use it

Only when the requester has presented a negotiable instrument that has been dishonored (non-payment or non-acceptance) and needs a formal certificate of dishonor. If what you are being asked to notarize is not a negotiable instrument under 13 Pa.C.S. § 3104 — for example, a private IOU or a non-negotiable commercial invoice — this is not a protest and should be declined as such.

Certificate

RULONA’s § 316 does not provide a short-form protest certificate. Format the protest under § 315(c)(4) with at a minimum: venue (state and county of performance); date; identification of the instrument (party, amount, date, payee); a statement of presentment and dishonor; the notary’s signature and stamp; and commission expiration. Most large banks supply a protest template — use it.

Fee (2026)

$3 per page of the protest (4 Pa. Code § 167.3) — the one act with a per-page rather than per-act cap.

Remote acts — a pointer, not a deep dive

Any of these acts except noting a protest may be performed remotely under 57 Pa.C.S. § 306.1, provided the notary has pre-notified the Department, uses DOS-approved communication technology, performs two-factor identity proofing, and creates and retains a full audio-visual recording for at least 10 years. The certificate must state, under § 306.1(d), that the act was performed by means of communication technology. For the full remote-notarization procedure — including the approved-platform list after Pavaso’s January 1, 2026 shutdown — see the Remote Online Notarization pillar.

Certificate requirements for every act (§§ 315–317)

Whatever the act, 57 Pa.C.S. § 315 sets the universal certificate elements:

1. Executed contemporaneously with the act (§ 315(a)(2)(i)).
2. Signed and dated by the notary (§ 315(a)(2)(ii)).
3. Venue — county and state where performed (§ 315(a)(2)(iii)). “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” may be used in place of “State of Pennsylvania.”
4. Title of office — i.e., “Notary Public” (§ 315(a)(2)(iv)).
5. Exact-name signature — the notary’s name as it appears on the commission, no more and no less (§ 315(a)(3)(i)(A)).
6. Commission expiration date (§ 315(a)(3)(ii)).
7. Official stamp — the rectangular rubber stamp described in § 317, affixed near the signature and photographically reproducible. Under the 2026 rule at 4 Pa. Code § 167.21(b)(5) the stamp must now include the seven-digit commission ID.

Two additional § 315 rules deserve their own lines:

“A notary public may not affix the notary public’s signature to, or logically associate it with, a certificate until the notarial act has been performed.” — 57 Pa.C.S. § 315(e)

Pre-signing or pre-stamping a blank certificate is a prohibited act and a standing DOS discipline trigger. And § 315(f) requires that the certificate be part of or securely attached to the record — a loose certificate that is merely clipped or paper-clipped can be detached and reused fraudulently. Staple it. Run the stamp across the page break where it meets the document.

For the choice-of-form rules (short form from § 316, or any form that “sets forth the actions sufficient to meet §§ 305, 306, 307”), see § 315(c). The safest practice is to use the § 316 short form that matches the act.

Act × certificate comparison table

Act	Statute	Signer signs in your presence?	Oath required?	Short-form certificate opens with	2026 fee (§ 167.3)
Acknowledgment	§ 305(a), § 316(1)–(2.1)	No	No	”This record was acknowledged before me on …”	$5 first name / $2 each add’l
Verification on oath (jurat)	§ 305(b), § 316(3)	Yes	Yes	”Signed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on …”	$5 per declarant
Oath or affirmation (standalone)	§ 302; § 306	N/A (no record)	Yes	No § 316 short form — use § 315(c)(4)	$5 per taker
Witnessing or attesting a signature	§ 305(c), § 316(4)	Yes	No	”Signed (or attested) before me on …”	$5 per signature
Copy certification	§ 305(d), § 316(5)	N/A — copy act	No	”I certify that this is a true and correct copy of a …”	$5 per certified copy
Protest of negotiable instrument	§ 305(e); 13 Pa.C.S. § 3505(b)	N/A	No	No § 316 short form — use § 315(c)(4)	$3 per page

Common defects that void or undermine notarizations

Pennsylvania’s rule on defects is counterintuitive but important: under 57 Pa.C.S. § 329, most technical defects do not invalidate the underlying act — the signed document still stands. But four categories of defect are different, and two of those are regularly prosecuted.

No personal appearance — the § 306 bright line

When the signer never actually appeared, the act is not merely defective; the notary’s certificate is a false statement subject to DOS discipline under § 323 and criminal liability under Pennsylvania’s forgery, tampering with public records (18 Pa.C.S. § 4911), and related statutes. Commonwealth v. Schell (Phila. C.P., April 2025) — roughly 250 counts arising from deed notarizations for absent or deceased “signers” on 21 stolen homes — is the capstone recent prosecution. The DOS disciplinary record is full of the less-dramatic version: In re Lori S. Sobol (voluntary surrender effective November 30, 2022, published March 2023 BPOA Disciplinary Actions bulletin) arose from failing to require personal appearance and failing to maintain a journal.

Takeaway: a § 306 violation is not a clerical miss. It is the notary’s signature on a lie.

Conflict of interest — the § 304(b) voidability rule

An act performed in violation of § 304(b) (notarizing a record in which the notary or the notary’s spouse has a direct or pecuniary interest) is expressly voidable under § 304(b)(3) — the exception to the general rule that defects do not void acts. Do not notarize your own documents, your spouse’s documents, or documents where you or your spouse receive a contingent benefit.

Backdating or pre-signing — § 315(e)

Signing or stamping a certificate before the act has been performed violates § 315(e). The certificate becomes evidence the notary is willing to fabricate. And as Pennsylvania courts have held, the notary’s certificate is not a mere receipt — it is self-authenticating evidence under Pa. R.E. 902 and can be used against either signer or notary downstream. Commonwealth v. Magliocco (Pa. Super. 2002) treated a notarial certificate as probative evidence of the defendant’s presence and intent in a forgery prosecution; the certificate’s evidentiary weight cuts both ways.

Misstated venue or identity — the presumption trap

Under In re Jones, 308 B.R. 223 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2003), a notary’s certificate carries a strong presumption of regularity — a debtor’s testimony that “no notary was actually present” was not enough to overcome it. The lesson for the notary is the inverse: because the certificate is so difficult to impeach, a notary who misstates venue, identity, or the act type is signing a representation that courts will believe against the signer. Accuracy is not clerical — it is testimonial.

Further reading

• PA Notary Overview — the full introduction to the role, the law, and the limits.
• How to become a Pennsylvania notary — the 9-step appointment playbook including the 2026 $25,000 bond.
• RULONA — the statute that governs every PA notary — § 301–331 in plain English.
• Remote Online Notarization in PA — § 306.1, approved technology, and the 10-year recording rule.
• PA notary fee schedule (2026 update) — the new $5 signature-witnessing line item and every other cap.
• Fee calculator — price out any combination of acts under § 167.3.
• Certificate generator — build a § 316-compliant short-form certificate for any of the six acts.
• Preview the curriculum — our Basic and Continuing Education courses, built around the 2026 regulatory rewrite. DOS provider approval pending.