Today, I received a call from “Jane” at the Stanford Hospital in Stanford, California. She and her sister, “Jill” are trustees who are responsible to sign the closing documents for the sale of their parents house. Jill, who is in Oregon, has the documents and planned to email them to me, so I could print them and meet with Jane at Stanford Hospital to execute and notarize them. Escrow needed the documents tomorrow morning to close escrow on time.

One of Jill’s concerns was me handling such sensitive personal documents. I reassured her that I handle seller signings; residential purchases and home refinance loan document packages and estate planning documents, as well as many other types of private documents for businesses (such as patent applications and patent assignments) and individuals (such as estate planning documents). I have completed over several thousand notarizations and before being a notary public, I worked in the residential real estate industry for several years where I managed escrow files and disclosure packets.

Additional information for the credibility of California Notary Public’s is we are required every four years to pass an exam, pass a background check by the FBI and the Department of Justice of California. Also, our photos and all ten fingerprints are submitted to the California Secretary of State. I have additional Gramm-Leach Bliley Act training which involves handling and safeguarding nonpublic personal information electronically and in print. My laptop and external hard drive are password protected. My active journal is in my briefcase which is locked and secured in my car when I am on the road and not in a notary appointment. My inactive journals are locked in a secure filing cabinet. I have a firewall, anti-spyware and antivirus software on my laptop which is updated frequently. If I have extra copies of personal documents, such as when documents are redrawn and the first set are no longer needed, I shred them.

I hope this helps you better understand how I handle and protect nonpublic personal and private information with complete confidentiality.

When you have your important documents notarized do you know what happens with your personal private information that is entered in the notary journal? If you had a mortgage loan signing and the notary brought the documents which included your personal financial information, do you know how it is handled?

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For spring break, some people travel out of the country for vacation. Friday, I received a last minute, evening call to notarize a Travel Consent Form in Redwood City, California. “Tim” was packing with his kids for their spring break trip to Mexico. They were scheduled to leave early the next morning. When “Tim” reviewed his vacation itinerary he read the fine print about one parent traveling with children out of the country. A Travel Consent Form (AKA Parental Travel Consent Form and Affidavit of Parental Consent) was required, to be signed and notarized with his former wife, “Sally” who has joint custody of their children. Fortunately, he realized this need in time to schedule the notarization of the Travel Consent Form with Sally before he and his children left for their trip to Mexico which was in 10 hours! He searched for a notary public available after hours, since it was in the evening.

Fortunately, Sally was in town and available to meet at his place. I met with Tim and Sally just over an hour after I received his phone call. The Travel Consent Form was notarized and he sighed with relief. He could enjoy his vacation, since he won’t encounter travel hitches with not having this form.

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Recently, this question was posed to me during a phone call requesting my mobile notary public services in Portola Valley, California.

I received the call from “Jane” whose sister “Jody” has terminal cancer. Within the span of a week or so, Jody’s health declined at a faster rate than before, so they had to accelerate their estate planning (trust, advanced healthcare directive, durable power of attorney, trust certification, transfer of property to trust and other documents). They scrambled to generate the documents with their attorney and have the documents notarized before Jody passed away.

During the initial phone conversation with Jane, I asked if Jody could sign on her own. Jane replied, “No, what if my sister cannot sign her signature?” I said, “We need two witnesses since Jody will sign by a mark. These witnesses should not be family members or be named in the documents. Their purpose is to witness Jody signing by a mark and her understanding of the documents she signs.” Jane said that she would ask two neighbors to act as witnesses.

I also asked, “When is the best time to sign the documents with Jody during her medication cycle?” (The best time to sign is some time after the morphine or other strong medication is administered, so Jody is coherent and has the ability to sign by a mark.) Jane said, “The best time would be in the early afternoon.” We set a time that worked best for everyone.

During the notary appointment signing, Jody had the strength to sign by a mark on all of the documents. The witnesses and Jane were patient with the process and I notarized all of the documents. Jane mentioned that she was relieved to have the documents finally executed and notarized. She could focus more on caring for Jody and now manage more efficiently Jody’s finances and health care decisions, as she is the attorney in fact or agent for Jody.

If you find yourself with a similar situation where the signer is unable to sign his/her name on a document that requires notarization, don’t feel you are out of luck. Plan B is signing by a mark.

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