Estate documents tend to arrive at difficult moments. Knowing which requirements are the notary’s and which belong to the document itself removes most of the friction.
Notarization and witnessing are different things
These get treated as one requirement and they are not. Notarization is a notary verifying identity, confirming the signer is acting knowingly and freely, witnessing the signature, and completing a certificate. Witnessing is one or more people watching you sign and signing to say so, no commission, no seal.
Whether your document needs witnesses is set by the document or by the institution that will rely on it, not by the notary. A will, a power of attorney, and a healthcare directive can each have different requirements. Read the signature block, and ask whoever drafted it.
Timing is the thing people get wrong
A power of attorney or a directive has to be signed while the signer can still understand and choose. That means the right moment is before anyone believes one is needed. The calls we cannot help with are the ones that begin “my mother had a stroke last week”. By then the document may no longer be an option, and the family is looking at a guardianship petition instead, which is slower, public, and far more expensive.
Sign it early: A power of attorney signed while it is easy is a twenty-minute appointment. The same document needed after capacity is lost is a court process.
Awareness and willingness
Every notarization turns on two questions, and estate signings put weight on both. Can the signer indicate what the document is and what it does? Are they signing of their own accord?
Awareness does not mean well, and it does not mean unmedicated. If someone can tell us they are signing a power of attorney so their son can handle the accounts, that is awareness. If a family member is answering for them or correcting them, we will ask for a few minutes alone with the signer. Not out of suspicion, but because it is the only way to be certain.
Choosing witnesses
Avoid anyone who benefits under the document, and in a hospital or care facility avoid staff, who are usually excluded. Two neighbors, a family friend, or a colleague of the drafting attorney are the usual answer. The notary cannot be one of them.
What a notary cannot help with
We cannot draft the document, advise which powers to grant, say whether a trust is the right vehicle, or choose which notarial certificate the document needs. Washington law prohibits a notary who is not an attorney from drafting legal records, giving legal advice, or assisting in selecting a certificate. Those questions belong to an attorney.
Bring these
- The complete document, unsigned, every page and attachment
- Current government-issued photo ID for each signer
- Witnesses the document requires, with their own identification
- Instructions from the drafting attorney or receiving institution
We travel to offices, libraries, hospitals, and care facilities across Tacoma and the South Puget Sound, evenings and weekends included.