California Acknowledgment and Jurat Forms

The handbook names the two notary forms a California notary completes most often: "The form most frequently completed by the notary public is the certificate of acknowledgment." And "The second form most frequently completed by a notary public is the jurat (Government Code section 8202)."

The wording of both is set by statute. Below is each form exactly as the handbook prints it, then each part of it and how it is filled in, then the rules about the forms themselves.

Everything here comes from the California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition, and the code sections it reproduces. Page numbers are the handbook's.

The wording below is shown for study. To complete a certificate, start from the Secretary of State's own forms (acknowledgment, jurat). On this page the required notice is not shown in the enclosed box the statute requires.

If you are signing a document, not notarizing it: a notary cannot tell you which of these two forms your document needs. That decision is not the notary's to make, and the reason is below.

This guide is not the course. Reading it does not count toward the six hours a first commission requires or the three hours of a refresher, and cannot. A refresher counts only if you apply for reappointment before your current commission expires. The statutory education requirement is satisfied only by completing a course of study the Secretary of State has approved and receiving that vendor's Proof of Completion certificate. General notarial information, not legal advice.

The acknowledgment certificate, word for word

Civil Code section 1189(a)(3) says "A certificate of acknowledgment taken within this state shall be in the following form", and prints it. This is the form as the handbook reproduces that section (page 48):

A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.

State of California }

County of __________________

On ____________ before me, (here insert name and title of the officer), personally appeared

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

____________________________, who proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) whose name(s) is/are subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their authorized capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument the person(s), or the entity upon behalf of which the person(s) acted, executed the instrument.

I certify under PENALTY OF PERJURY under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing paragraph is true and correct.

WITNESS my hand and official seal.

Signature _____________________________ (Seal)

The handbook also prints this form on page 13, in its own section on acknowledgments, with the lines at the bottom labelled "Notary Public Signature" and "Notary Public Seal".

Each part of the acknowledgment

The notice box

The boxed paragraph at the top is required. Civil Code section 1189(a)(1): "Any certificate of acknowledgment taken within this state shall include a notice at the top of the certificate of acknowledgment in an enclosed box", with the wording shown above. "This notice shall be legible."

The shape of the box is not fixed. Section 1189(a)(2) calls the format in the statute "an example, for purposes of illustration and not limitation, of the physical format of a boxed notice fulfilling the requirements of paragraph (1)."

For a signer, the notice says what the notary is vouching for: who signed. The notary is not vouching that the document is true, accurate or valid.

State of California, County of

This is the venue. Fill in the county where the signer stood in front of you. The handbook (page 8): "The county named in the heading in the notarial certificate is the county where the signer personally appeared before the notary public." It need not be the county where your oath and bond are filed. "A notary public is not limited to providing services only in the county where the oath and bond are filed."

The date

The blank after "On" is the date the signer appeared. In an acknowledgment the notary certifies "That the signer personally appeared before the notary public on the date indicated in the county indicated" (page 12).

The notary's name and title

The form says "(here insert name and title of the officer)". The handbook's own completed example (page 17) reads: "On February 5, 2013, before me, John Doe, Notary Public, personally appeared Bob Smith,". Name, then the title Notary Public.

The signer's name

The long blanks after "personally appeared" take the name of each person who appeared, and that person has to be there. The note under the handbook's form (page 13): "An acknowledgment cannot be affixed to a document mailed or otherwise delivered to a notary public whereby the signer did not personally appear before the notary public, even if the signer is known by the notary public."

The signature itself can already be on the document. "When preparing a certificate of acknowledgment, the document can be signed before the person brings it to you for notarization." (page 25)

"Satisfactory evidence"

The form has the notary certify that the signer "proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence". That phrase points to Civil Code section 1185(a): "The acknowledgment of an instrument shall not be taken unless the officer taking it has satisfactory evidence that the person making the acknowledgment is the individual who is described in and who executed the instrument." (page 46)

Knowing the signer is not enough. "An acknowledgment may not be taken or a jurat executed on the basis of personal knowledge alone." (page 27) What counts as satisfactory evidence is in How to Identify a Signer in California.

"he/she/they" and "his/her/their"

The form prints every choice: person(s), name(s) is/are, he/she/they, his/her/their, capacity(ies), signature(s). The handbook gives no instruction to strike any of them. Its completed example on page 17 has one signer, Bob Smith, and leaves each choice as printed.

On capacity, the handbook's rule on out-of-state forms lists, among the things a form may not require of a California notary, "to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity" (page 13).

The PERJURY sentence

"The certificate of acknowledgment is executed under penalty of perjury." (page 12, citing Civil Code section 1189(a)(1)) That is what the line "I certify under PENALTY OF PERJURY under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing paragraph is true and correct." commits the notary to.

The handbook on a false certificate (page 13): "The completion of a certificate of acknowledgment that contains statements that the notary public knows to be false not only may cause the notary public to be liable for civil penalties and administrative action but is also a criminal offense." Under section 1189(a)(4), a notary who willfully states as true a material fact known to be false "shall be subject to a civil penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000)."

The signature

"WITNESS my hand and official seal." is followed by the notary's signature. Government Code section 8205(a)(2), on the certificate of an acknowledgment or proof: "The certificate shall be signed by the notary public in the notary public's own handwriting." (pages 31 and 32)

The seal

"The notary public shall authenticate with the official seal all official acts." (Government Code section 8207, page 34) Placement matters if the document will be recorded. The handbook (page 9): "The seal should not be placed over signatures or over any printed matter on the document." And: "A document may not be accepted by the recorder if the notary public seal is illegible." One exception: acknowledgments for California subdivision map certificates may be notarized without the seal. The notary's name, the county of principal place of business and the commission expiration date are then typed or printed below or next to the signature (page 9; Government Code section 66436(c)).

All of it at once

Fill in every blank when the signature and seal go on, not later. "The certificate of acknowledgment must be filled completely out at the time the notary public's signature and seal are affixed." (page 12) Not doing so is a ground for discipline: "Failure to complete the acknowledgment at the time the notary's signature and seal are affixed to the document." (Government Code section 8214.1(j)) Section 8214.15(b) adds that it "is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750)."

The jurat, word for word

Government Code section 8202(d): "A jurat executed pursuant to this section shall be in the following form". This is the form as the handbook reproduces that section (page 30):

A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.

State of California

County of ______________________

Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on this ____ day of _________, 20___, by ______________________, proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) who appeared before me.

Seal ________________________

Signature ____________________

The handbook prints it again on page 14, with the bottom lines labelled "Notary Public Signature" and "Notary Public Seal". It also says how to recognize one: "The jurat is identified by the wording 'Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed)' contained in the form." (page 13)

Each part of the jurat

The notice box and the venue

The jurat carries the same boxed notice. Section 8202(b) requires that "To any affidavit subscribed and sworn to before a notary, there shall be attached a jurat that includes a notice at the top, in an enclosed box", and again "This notice shall be legible." Section 8202(c) treats the printed box as an example, in nearly the same words section 1189(a)(2) uses.

The venue follows the same rule as the acknowledgment: the county where the signer appeared before you.

The day, month and year

The handbook's completed jurat example (page 19) fills the date line this way: "before me on this 5th day of February 2025, by Vicki Jones,". The name is the person who swore or affirmed and signed.

Signed in front of you

Here the jurat parts ways with the acknowledgment. Section 8202(a) in full:

When executing a jurat, a notary shall administer an oath or affirmation to the affiant and shall determine, from satisfactory evidence as described in Section 1185 of the Civil Code, that the affiant is the person executing the document. The affiant shall sign the document in the presence of the notary.

The note under the handbook's jurat form (page 14) closes the mail-in route: "A jurat cannot be affixed to a document mailed or otherwise delivered to a notary public whereby the signer did not personally appear, take an oath, and sign in the presence of the notary public, even if the signer is known by the notary public."

The oath or affirmation

The form says "Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed)", so an oath or an affirmation has to happen. The statute sets no script. The handbook (page 14):

There is no prescribed wording for the oath, but an acceptable oath would be "Do you swear or affirm that the statements in this document are true?" When administering the oath, the signer and notary public traditionally each raise their right hand, but this is not a legal requirement.

Skipping it is a ground for discipline: "Failure to administer the oath or affirmation as required by paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 8205." (Government Code section 8214.1(k)) It sits in the same $750 civil-penalty band as an unfinished acknowledgment (section 8214.15(b)). More on oaths is in Administering Oaths and Depositions.

Seal and signature

The statutory form ends with a line for the seal and a line for the signature. It has no PENALTY OF PERJURY sentence. Of these two forms, only the acknowledgment carries one. Section 8207's seal rule applies to the jurat as it does to every official act.

Rules about the forms themselves

On the document, or attached to it

An acknowledgment certificate can be written on the document or attached to it. Civil Code section 1188: an officer taking an acknowledgment "shall endorse thereon or attach thereto a certificate pursuant to Section 1189." Government Code section 8205(a)(2) says the same of a certificate of acknowledgment or proof, "endorsed on or attached to the instrument". For a jurat, section 8202(b) says one "shall be attached" to an affidavit. The handbook does not use the term loose certificate and does not describe how an attached certificate is fastened.

When one may be completed:

Only for a signer who appeared in person. Both notes quoted above rule out a mailed or delivered document.
Only on a complete document. "A notary public may not notarize a document that is incomplete." (page 19)
Only with the wording in place. The note under each form ends the same way: "a notary public seal and signature cannot be affixed to a document without the correct notarial wording."
For an acknowledgment, completely, at the time of signing and sealing (see All of it at once above).

Wording that does not follow the statute

The statute prescribes each form. "The certificate of acknowledgment must be in the form set forth in Civil Code section 1189." (page 12) "Any jurat taken within this state shall be in the following form" (page 14), and the boxed notice is required on both. A seal and signature cannot go on a document without the correct notarial wording. The handbook does not say what a notary should do with a document whose printed certificate departs from the statutory form.

Forms from other states

The handbook makes an allowance for acknowledgment forms from other states (page 13): "A notary public may complete a certificate of acknowledgment required in another state or jurisdiction of the United States on documents to be filed in that other state or jurisdiction, provided the form does not require the notary public to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or to make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law."

Read both conditions. The document has to be one that will be filed in that other state or U.S. jurisdiction, and the form cannot ask you to certify capacity or anything else California law does not allow. The handbook states no matching allowance for jurats.

Going the other way, Civil Code section 1189(b): "Any certificate of acknowledgment taken in another place shall be sufficient in this state if it is taken in accordance with the laws of the place where the acknowledgment is made."

Corrections

Once the act is complete, the law offers no way to fix it. "There are no provisions in the law that allow for the correction of a completed notarial act." (page 19) The handbook's remedy is a new act: "If a notary public discovers an error in a notarial act after completing the act, then the notary public should notarize the signature on the document again." Every requirement of a notarization applies to the new act, "including completing and attaching a new certificate containing the date of the new notarial act and completing a new journal entry." The handbook says nothing more about corrections.

Who chooses the form

Not the notary. The handbook (page 8) lists among the acts that constitute the practice of law "the preparation, drafting, or selection or determination of the kind of any legal document, or giving advice in relation to any legal documents or matters." Its instruction: "If asked to perform such tasks, a California notary public should decline and refer the requester to an attorney."

The handbook does not say who does choose. Its instruction is to the notary: decline, and refer the requester to an attorney. The full explanation is in Acknowledgment vs. Jurat.

Where to get blank forms

The Secretary of State publishes both forms as PDFs:

Acknowledgments, which links the California Certificate of Acknowledgment
Jurats, which links the California Jurat

Both are also listed on the Secretary of State's Forms, Services, and Fees page. A blank form changes none of the rules above. The notary still cannot pick it for you.

Official sources

Check the statute before you rely on a form's wording.

California Notary Public Handbook — www.sos.ca.gov/notary
Secretary of State, notary forms — www.sos.ca.gov/notary/forms
Secretary of State, Notary Public Section — Business Programs Division, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, California 94277-0001; (916) 653-3595

Where notrai fits

notrai is a California Secretary of State–approved notary public education vendor. The Secretary of State approved two notrai courses of study — the six-hour course for first-time applicants and the three-hour refresher for renewing notaries who meet its conditions (Six-Hour vs. Three-Hour lists them) — each under its own certificate of approval. That approval covers those two courses of study and nothing else. It is not an endorsement or recommendation of the courses, of notrai or of this website, and nothing on this page is legal advice.

Both courses are online and self-paced, and each issues a Proof of Completion certificate to a student who completes it. Each also includes its own practice exam, built from the course material rather than the state exam. You can try it with a notrai account before you buy a course.

Separately, notrai has an AI tutor you can ask about California notary law.

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