Acknowledgment

The purpose of an acknowledgment is to ensure that the signer of a document is who they claim to be and has voluntarily signed the document. Acknowledgments often are needed for documents concerning valuable assets, such as deeds, mortgages and deeds of trust.

To perform an acknowledgment, the signer must personally appear before the notary public at the time of notarization to be positively identified and to declare — or "acknowledge" — that the signature on the document is their own and that they signed willingly.

While it is common practice for your client to sign the document in front of the notary public at the time of the notarization, it is not necessary. Your client may sign the document before bringing it to you and declare — or acknowledge — to you that the signature on the document is theirs.

Taking Acknowledgments

§ “A notary public is authorized to take the acknowledgments of deeds and other instruments of writing for record, as fully as other officers of this state.” Fla. Stat. § 117.04.

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. – Thomas Jefferson