Recently, a family law attorney in Santa Clara County contacted me in the late afternoon. Her client in Palo Alto is in the process of finalizing an ugly divorce. One of the last pieces is notarizing the Interspousal Transfer Deed. The attorney’s location is about 25 miles from her client. She wanted to have the deed notarized the following day. Within an hour or so after we spoke, she emailed me the documents. I reviewed them and noticed her client’s last name was spelled incorrectly. She was grateful that I caught the typo and was able to update it and send it to me.

Imagine if the document was notarized with the typo. If the error was caught at the County Clerk’s office when it was to record, they would reject the documents. This would delay finalizing the divorce which was to happen in a couple of days. Can you imagine the emotional stress? What if the error wasn’t caught at the County Clerk’s office? The spouse receiving the property (grantee) really would not have full ownership of the property. What challenges would that bring along since the divorce agreement wasn’t followed? Some level of stress would occur.

When you have important documents you need notarized do you have a detail-oriented professional mobile notary you can count on?

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Adopting an international child is an exciting time for soon-to-be-parents. At times, the process can be stressful with all of the paperwork required by both the local and the foreign adoption agencies. The process involves notarized documents and apostille or certification of the documents with the Secretary of State before they are sent to the country’s adoption agency. Completing and notarizing the documents correctly are important in maintaining the adoption timeline.

A recent couple with whom I have worked is in Russia completing the final steps in their adoption process. They will be there just under three weeks. At the end of it, they will bring home their 18 month old son. They are thrilled to be at the end of their 18 month adoption process.

I notarized documents for them with their physicians, CPA, psychologist, work colleagues and many other documents that are required by both the local adoption agency and the adoption agency in Russia.

When they received a call a couple of weeks ago about the final steps with their adoption process, they were advised of additional notarized documents that were required. I met with their physicians and at the husband’s work office to notarize the final required documents.

I was glad to be of service to them and sharing a part of their journey with them.

When you are ready to adopt an international child, do you know of a professional, detail oriented mobile notary who can help ease the stressful paperwork requirements?

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I just spent about half an hour on the phone with the son (“Mr. Smith Jr.”) of Mr. Smith Sr. who is in Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. A few days ago, a notary notarized a power of attorney with Mr. Smith Sr.. When Mr. Smith Jr. brought it to the bank, the bank wouldn’t accept it since it was notarized incorrectly. The wrong notary acknowledgement was used and the marks signed by Mr. Smith Sr. weren’t written with correct representation. What a terrible surprise for the Smiths.

Yesterday, I notarized a document for Mr. Smith Sr.. He signed by a mark and we had two witnesses present.

Today in the early evening, Mr. Smith Jr. called me asking for help. He noticed on the power of attorney that the notary certificate was different than what I used. He also noticed that the mark his father made on the power of attorney was handled differently than the way it was handled on the document I notarized. He called me again for help, when they arrived at the other notary’s office.

Having an incorrectly notarized power of attorney was hugely unfortunate for the Smith family, as Mr. Smith Sr. recently fell which caused paralysis from his neck down. This event by itself is enormously overwhelming for the Smiths.

Do you know of a competent notary public you can call to be sure you avoid such a situation? If not, do you know where to search for one?

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This evening I received a call from the son of a veteran who is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow at 6AM at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Palo Alto, California. “Mr. Lee” wanted his durable power of attorney notarized before he went in for surgery and the window of opportunity was closing. They are from Monterey County and are unfamiliar with Palo Alto. They arrived in Palo Alto in the late afternoon and drove to a couple of notary public offices. Unfortunately, the first one went out of business and the second one did not a notary public onsite. Mr. Lee’s son, “Randall” called me frantic at just before 7PM.

He was glad to have found a traveling notary public that could bring notary services to them at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. Then, he was wondering how he was going to find an ATM to get cash to pay for the notary services. I told him that I accept debit and credit cards. Since he had his credit card, he didn’t have to worry about driving around an unfamiliar city to find an ATM. He sighed with relief.

I arrived within a half an hour to notarize the power of attorney for Mr. Lee. Both he and Randall were at ease knowing it was notarized. Now, they could focus on the surgery and recovery.

If you find yourself in a pinch for a traveling notary, do you have a knowledgeable, professional one you can call?

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary to learn more about the daily adventures of a mobile notary public & loan signing agent in the counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo, California.

I thought I would share about my mobile notary services to hospitals. This week, I provided mobile notary service to a patient and her family at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, Califorina. Other recent notary appointments have been at Lucille Packard’s Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara and Stanford Hospital in Stanford, California. I provide notary service to the other hospitals in the counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara, California too.

Common documents that require notarization by hospital patients are power of attorneys and advanced health care directives. Once in a while the person has a refinance loan package or a seller signing package. Another common request is when they have been involved in a car or motorcycle accident and their car or motorcycle is impounded. Since they are in the hospital and the sole owner of the vehicle or bike, they need a notarized letter authorizing a family member or friend to pick up their car or bike from the impound yard.

As a notary, I have to gauge the competence and willingness of the signer as well as identify them. If they are taking pain killers or other medications causing grogginess, signing is better later in the medication cycle when they are more alert. If they aren’t competent, I have to decline the notarization. If they do not have their current photo ID (driver’s license, state ID card or passport), two credible witnesses are needed who do have their current photo ID’s and testify to the signers identification.

Hospital stays can be stressful for the patient and their family and friends. I recognize this and work accordingly with them to make the notarizations as efficient and pain free as possible. An example, today when I just arrived, the physical therapists came in and wanted to work with the patient (“Mrs. Jones”). We asked them to return in a a few minutes. I quickly reviewed the patient’s current photo ID to confirm her ID and signature. I reviewed the power of attorney requiring notarization. I asked about her hand strength to see if a felt tip pen would work better for Mrs. Jones than the ball point pen. While one of her sons worked with her to practice signing her signature. I worked with her other son to complete a couple of items on the power of attorney. Next, I asked her a couple of questions about the power of attorney that she needed to answer and asked her a couple of questions to confirm she understood what she was signing. I had her sign the document and my notary journal and then give her thumb print in my journal. Next, her son signed his portion of the document and he signed the journal and gave his thumb print in it too.

The physical therapists returned to the room and started working with Mrs. Jones while I completed notarizing the document and completing the journal. I wrote a receipt. They paid me. I was on my way and they had their much needed notarized power of attorney, so now her son can manage her finances while she is recovering in the hospital.

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Some people wonder how I can have clients who are out of state. “Sarah”, who is in New York, called me to notarize a couple of documents with her father, “Mr. Jones”. He is living at Palo Alto Commons, an assisted living place in Palo Alto, California. They needed trust documents notarized. She was a bit stressed on how to make this happen. Her father no longer drives, so he is unable to drive to a notary public’s office. I talked with her to better understand what she needed. She couriered the documents to me. I scheduled the notary appointment with her father. After the notarizations were complete, I couriered the documents back to Sarah.

I was glad to be of service to Sarah and Mr. Jones and making the transaction as smooth and stressless as possible for them.

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary to learn more about the daily happenings of a mobile notary public & loan signing agent in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and South Bay.

Yesterday, I provided mobile notary public service for a patient at Santa Clara Valley Medical in San Jose, California. “Mr. Smith” was involved in an accident and he needed his wife, “Mrs. Smith” to manage their finances, so I notarized a power of attorney for him. He was unable to sign his name, so he signed by a mark which involved two people who witnessed him signing.

This brought peace of mind for Mrs. Smith, as with the power of attorney she is able to start moving on her To Do list.

I enjoy being able to help people such as the Smith’s, as I know I can help ease their stress by delivering patient and efficient notary service.

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary to learn more about the daily adventures of a mobile notary public & loan signing agent in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and South Bay.

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.

Join my Facebook Fan Page www.Facebook.com/ChampionMobileNotary to learn more about the daily adventures of a mobile notary public & loan signing agent in the California counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo.

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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This is a common question I hear from people. I believe the best way to answer it is by sharing some of my recent notary appointments, as it will show the types of documents I notarize and the various types of people with whom I have the privilege of working.

* A law firm in Springville, Texas, needed an affidavit from a General Counsel at a company in Sunnyvale, California. I worked with the paralegal at the law firm in Texas and the paralegal at the company in Sunnyvale, California to schedule the notary appointment to notarize the affidavit.

* An attorney in Redwood City, California wanted a couple of consent forms for text messages notarized with his client.

* A former husband in Seattle, Washington required a quitclaim deed and court settlement document to be notarized with his former wife working in Santa Clara, California. He called me to meet with his former wife to travel to her office to notarize the two documents.

* A business in Redwood City, California is opening bank accounts in Great Britain. A commom requirement with opening foreign bank accounts are copies of utility bills, passports, and or drivers licenses. I met with a couple of their business executives to notarize their copies of identification documents.

* A business in the construction industry located in San Jose, California, called me to bring notary services to them to notarize a progress payment form. This form states the final payment in a particular phase of the project.

* A business located in Redwood City, California contacted me to travel to their office to notarize power of attorney documents for a product they developed to expand into foreign markets (they are helping our trade deficit!).

* A couple in San Jose, California called me to bring notary public services to them. They had a pension election form that required notarizations.

* A title company in Palo Alto, California contacted me to complete a refinance mortgage loan signing with a couple at their home in Milpitas. The wife just had surgery, so the convenience of executing their loan documents at their home instead of the title office in Palo Alto was important.

* A fiduciary person (aka registered guardian) in San Jose, California 95128 contacted me to meet with her client in Sunnyvale, California to notarize a power of attorney.

* An estate planning attorney in Santa Rosa, California contacted me to meet with her and her clients at the husband’s office in Menlo Park, California. The attorney worked with the couple to do their estate planning and had a few documents requiring notarization (trust, grant deed and durable power of attorney).

* A former wife at the Family Court in San Jose, California 95113 called me on short notice. She was in the midst of a divorce and needed to file an interspousal transfer deed. The supervisor of the court is one of the people who signed it and I notarized it. The former wife also signed it and was notarized.

* A wealth management firm in San Francisco, California contacted me for traveling notary services. They had clients in Los Altos Hills, California and in Cupertino, California. The forms requiring notarizations were trust certification forms.

* A sister with a brother at O’ Connor Hospital, San Jose, California 95128 called me for traveling notary service. Her brother had an advanced healthcare directive they wanted notarized.

* A paralegal at a law firm in San Francisco, California contacted me to meet their clients at the clients home in Atherton, California. They had several grant deeds requiring notarizations.

* A wife (and future mom) contacted me to meet with her and her physician in Portola Valley, California to notarize a couple of forms for adopting an international child.

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