Any commissioned notary public can notarize an affidavit. So can several categories of government officials who hold oath-administering authority by law: judges, magistrates, court clerks, military judge advocates and legal assistance personnel, and U.S. consular officers at embassies and consulates abroad. The question of who can notarize an affidavit also has a flip side worth knowing before you book an appointment, because an affidavit notarized by someone with a conflict of interest or without proper authority can be thrown out when it reaches a court or agency.
Notaries Public Are the Default
A notary public is the most common choice. Every state commissions notaries to serve as impartial witnesses to signatures and to administer oaths. You’ll find them at banks, insurance offices, shipping stores, law firms, and many other businesses during regular hours. Many banks notarize free for account holders, which is usually the cheapest route.
Their job when handling your affidavit is narrow: confirm your identity, make sure you understand what you’re signing, verify you’re signing voluntarily, and put you under oath before you sign.
Mobile Notaries
Mobile notaries travel to your home, workplace, hospital room, or care facility. They perform the same legal functions as any other notary. The difference is cost and convenience, since most charge a travel fee on top of the standard per-signature rate. Travel fees are largely unregulated and vary with distance and time of day.
Remote Online Notarization
Remote online notarization lets you complete the process over a live video call. The notary verifies your identity through knowledge-based authentication questions and digital ID checks, watches you sign on screen, and applies a digital seal and electronic signature. Over 45 states and the District of Columbia now authorize remote online notarization by permanent law. The finished document carries the same legal weight as one signed in person. If you’re overseas, housebound, or short on time, this is often the fastest path to a finished affidavit.
Government Officials Who Can Also Do It
Notaries aren’t the only people authorized to put you under oath and witness your affidavit signature. Several categories of government officials carry this power as part of their office.
Judges and Court Clerks
Judges, magistrates, and clerks of court can administer oaths and notarize affidavits. If you’re already at a courthouse for a hearing or filing, the clerk’s office can often handle the notarization on the spot. Deputy clerks in many jurisdictions share this authority. These officials typically exercise their power within their own courthouse or judicial district, so a county clerk may or may not notarize unrelated walk-in documents depending on local practice.
Military Notarial Officers
Active-duty service members and their families have access to notarial services through the military’s legal assistance system. Under federal law, judge advocates, civilian legal assistance attorneys, adjutants, and civilian paralegals at military legal offices all hold the general powers of a notary public. These officials can notarize documents for uniformed service members, eligible dependents, and other personnel serving with or accompanying the armed forces, including at posts outside the United States.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1044a – Authority to Act as Notary If you’re stationed overseas, the base legal assistance office is your first stop.
U.S. Consular Officers Abroad
American citizens living or traveling outside the United States can have affidavits notarized at any U.S. embassy or consulate. Federal law requires every consular officer to administer oaths, take affidavits, and perform any notarial act a notary public could perform domestically, whenever someone within the consulate’s jurisdiction requests it.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 4215 – Notarial Acts, Oaths, Affirmations, Affidavits, and Depositions; Fees Any oath, affidavit, or notarial act performed by a consular officer and certified under the officer’s hand and seal carries the same legal force within the United States as if it had been performed domestically by an authorized official.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 4221 – Depositions and Notarial Acts; Perjury Consulates charge fees for the service, set by regulation.
Who Cannot Notarize Your Affidavit
A notary’s value comes entirely from being a neutral third party. The moment that neutrality is compromised, the notarization becomes legally vulnerable. Two categories of people should never notarize your affidavit, even if they hold a valid commission.
Anyone with a Personal Interest
A notary cannot notarize a document in which they are named as a party or from which they would receive a direct financial benefit. This is called a disqualifying interest. A notary who notarizes their own contract, their own affidavit, or a transaction where they stand to gain financially risks having the notarization voided, and also faces potential loss of their commission plus civil or criminal penalties depending on the state.
Employer-employee situations are more nuanced. In most states, an employee-notary can notarize documents for their employer’s business as long as the notary receives no benefit beyond their normal salary. If the notary personally benefits beyond their regular pay, the impartiality concern returns. When in doubt, bring in an outside notary.
Family Members
Even if your spouse, parent, or sibling holds a notary commission, having them notarize your affidavit is risky at best and illegal at worst. Several states flatly prohibit notarizing for spouses, parents, children, or other close relatives. Others don’t explicitly ban it but treat it as a conflict of interest that can render the notarization voidable if anyone challenges it later.4National Notary Association. A Guide to Notarizing for Family Members The safer rule: don’t use a family member. The cost of getting a stranger to notarize it is trivial compared to the risk of the affidavit unraveling at the wrong moment.
Make Sure They Perform a Jurat, Not an Acknowledgment
Picking an authorized official is only half the job. Affidavits require a specific notarial act called a jurat, and getting the wrong act is one of the most common reasons an affidavit gets rejected.
During a jurat, the notary administers a verbal oath or affirmation. An oath typically sounds something like: “Do you swear under penalty of perjury that the information in this document is true, so help you God?” If you prefer a secular version, the notary can administer an affirmation that drops the religious reference. Either way, you must respond out loud. A nod or silence doesn’t count. After you verbally commit to the truthfulness of the statement, you sign the document in front of the notary. The notary then completes a jurat certificate that includes wording along the lines of “subscribed and sworn to before me,” the date, your name, and the notary’s signature and seal.
A jurat is different from an acknowledgment, the other common notarial act. An acknowledgment only confirms that you willingly signed; it says nothing about whether the contents are true. Affidavits need a jurat because the entire point is that you’re swearing to the truth of what’s written. If your affidavit has an acknowledgment block at the bottom instead of a jurat, a court or recording office can reject it. Check the notarial wording before your appointment. If it says “acknowledged before me” rather than “subscribed and sworn to before me,” you need a corrected version.
What to Bring
Every notarization starts with proving you are who you claim to be. Bring a current, government-issued photo ID. The universally accepted options are a state driver’s license, a state identification card, or a U.S. passport. The notary will check that the photo resembles you, the name matches the document, and the card doesn’t look altered.
Expired identification is a common sticking point. Some states reject expired IDs outright, while others accept IDs that expired within the last three years. The safest approach is to bring a current ID. If yours recently expired and you can’t renew before your appointment, call the notary ahead of time.
If you have no acceptable photo ID at all, some states allow a credible witness to vouch for your identity. The witness appears before the notary, presents their own valid ID, and swears under oath that you are the person named in the document. Rules vary significantly: some states require one witness who personally knows both you and the notary, others require two, and some don’t allow this method at all. Confirm with your notary in advance.
Bring the affidavit fully filled out but unsigned. The whole point of the jurat is that the notary watches you sign after administering the oath, so a pre-signed affidavit defeats the purpose and any competent notary will refuse to proceed. Leave the signature line blank until you’re sitting in front of the official.
The document itself needs to be complete. Blank fields, missing dates, or unfilled sections invite refusal, because empty spaces can be filled in fraudulently after the seal is applied. Read through every line beforehand. If a section genuinely doesn’t apply, write “N/A” rather than leaving it empty. If the affidavit is for a court case, check whether the court has a required form, since using the wrong format can mean starting over after you’ve already paid.
When You Don’t Need a Notary at All
For many federal proceedings, you can skip the notary entirely by using an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury. Federal law allows an unsworn written statement to carry the same legal weight as a sworn, notarized affidavit, as long as it includes specific language and your signature.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1746 – Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury
If you sign within the United States, the required language is: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date].” If you sign outside the United States, add “under the laws of the United States of America” after “penalty of perjury.” No notary, no seal, no jurat. You’re still subject to perjury charges if the statement is false, which is why courts accept it.
This option has limits. It applies to federal matters, and some specific federal proceedings (such as depositions and oaths of office) are excluded from the statute. Many state courts, local agencies, and private institutions still require a traditional notarized affidavit. Before relying on an unsworn declaration, confirm that the entity receiving your document will accept one. A growing number of states have adopted similar provisions for state matters, so check your state’s rules too.
Using the Finished Affidavit in Another State or Country
An affidavit notarized in one state is generally recognized in every other state. The U.S. Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause requires states to respect the public acts and records of other states, and a properly executed notarization falls within that framework. You shouldn’t need to re-notarize an affidavit just because you’re submitting it to a court or agency in a different state.
International use is more involved. If you need to submit a notarized affidavit in a foreign country that is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, you’ll need an apostille certificate attached to the document. For documents notarized domestically, the apostille is typically issued by the Secretary of State in the state where the notary holds their commission. For federal documents, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications handles apostille requests.6U.S. Department of State. Office of Authentications For countries outside the Hague Convention, you may need a longer authentication chain, sometimes called legalization, that can require certification from multiple government offices.
Typical Fees
Most states cap what a notary can charge per signature or per notarial act, and the caps tend to be low. Fees generally fall between $2 and $25 per signature, with $5 to $10 being the most common cap. Roughly ten states don’t set a maximum, letting notaries charge whatever the market will bear. Remote online notarizations often carry higher maximum fees than in-person ones, reflecting the technology costs.
Mobile notaries add travel fees on top of the per-signature charge. Most states don’t regulate travel fees, so the notary sets them based on distance, time, and demand. Expect $25 to $100 or more for a mobile visit depending on your location. If cost matters, a bank or shipping store during business hours is almost always the cheapest option.