Glossary

ACKNOWLEDGMENT - A formal declaration before an authorized individual (a notary public) by a person signing an instrument that such execution is his or her free act and deed. The term also refers to the notary's certificate on the document indicating that it was so acknowledged.

ADMINISTER - To discharge the duties of an office; to give (as in the giving of an oath).

AFFIDAVIT - A written statement of facts made voluntarily and confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it before an individual authorized to administer oaths, i.e., a notary public.

AFFIRM - To make a solemn, formal declaration under the penalty of perjury that certain statements are true. An affirmation is legally equivalent to an oath and may be substituted for an oath when a document requires an oath for its execution, i.e., an affidavit.

AFFIX - To attach or impress the notary seal to a document.

APOSTILLE - A certificate of notarial authority issued by the Secretary of the Commonwealth for notarized documents being sent out of Pennsylvania to those countries who are parties to the international treaty commonly known as the Hague Convention.

ATTEST - To bear witness to or to certify.

ATTORNEY IN FACT - The person authorized to act for another by power of attorney.

AUTHENTICATION - An Apostille or a Certificate of Notarial Authority is attached to the notarized document.

CERTIFIED COPY - A copy of a document or record, signed and certified as a true copy by the public official who has custody of the original record. NOTE: A notary may make an "attested photocopy," but not a certified copy. A certified copy is not the same as an original document.

CODICIL - A supplement or addendum to a will.

COERCE - To force into submission or compliance.

COMMISSION - The term used for the length of time you are appointed as a notary public by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

CUSTODIAN OF THE DOCUMENT - The person who has charge or custody of the document. In the case of making an attested photocopy, the "document's custodian" is the person presenting the document, who may or may not be the document signer.

DEED - A document by which a person conveys (transfers) real property.

Quitclaim Deed - A deed intended to pass any title, interest, or claim which the grantor may have in the real property, but not professing that such title is valid or containing any warranty for title.

Warranty Deed - A deed in which the grantor warrants or guarantees good clear title to the real property.

DEPONENT - The person giving testimony in a deposition.

DEPOSITION - The testimony of a witness, under oath or affirmation, taken outside of court in which lawyers ask oral questions of the witness.

The testimony is usually reduced to writing and duly authenticated and is intended to be used in a trial of a civil action or a criminal prosecution.

EXECUTE A DOCUMENT - To perform all formalities necessary to make a document fully effective; often a matter of signing, but may require delivery or other elements.

FREE ACT AND DEED - To admit one's act and assume the responsibility for it.

GRANTEE - A person who receives the deed of real property from the grantor, i.e., generally the buyer.

GRANTOR - The person who transfers a deed of real property, i.e, generally the seller.

INSTRUMENT - A written document.

JURAT - The written notarial certificate on any sworn statement or affidavit completed by the notary public indicating that the document was sworn or affirmed to by the signer.

LEASE - An agreement between two parties, where one party is the owner of certain property and grants to another party the right to possess, use and enjoy such property for a specified period of time in exchange for periodic payment of a stipulated price, referred to as rent.

LESSEE - One who rents property from another.

LESSOR - One who rents property to another.

LIEN - A legal right or security attached to real estate or personal property until the payment of some debt, obligation, or duty.

LITIGATION - A lawsuit or legal action.

MALFEASANCE - The doing of an act which a person ought not to do at all.

MISFEASANCE - The improper doing of an act which a person might lawfully do.

NEGLIGENCE - The failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances.

NOTARIAL ACT - The officials acts of a notary public administering an oath, taking an acknowledgment, attesting to a photocopy, or any other act authorized by law.

NOTARIAL CERTIFICATE - A written statement made by the notary public certifying specific facts of the notarial act performed.

OATH - Any form of attestation or pledge by which a person signifies that he or she is bound in conscience and out of a sense of responsibility to a Supreme Being to the truthfulness for some statement. Willfully swearing to untrue statements constitutes perjury.

PENNSYLVANIA NOTARY PUBLIC - A qualified individual appointed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth whose function is to administer oaths; to take acknowledgments of deeds and other instruments; to attest to photocopies of certain documents; and to perform other duties specified by law.

PERJURY - Making a false statement under oath or affirmation. Perjury is a felony punishable by a fine and/or prison term.

PERSONALLY KNOWN - Having an acquaintance derived from association with an individual in relation to other people and based upon a chain of circumstances surrounding he individual, which establishes the individual's identity. (Section 12.1(a)).

POWER OF ATTORNEY - A document authorizing a person to act as another's agent or attorney for a specified purpose.

PRINCIPAL - The person making the power of attorney.

REASONABLE CARE - The degree of care which a person of ordinary prudence and intelligence would exercise in the same or similar circumstances. Failure to exercise such care is negligence.

SATISFACTORY EVIDENCE - Means the reliance on the presentation of a current, government-issued identification card bearing a photograph OR signature OR physical description AND serial or identification number OR the oath or affirmation of a credible witness who is personally known to the notary and who personally knows the individual.

SUBSCRIBE - To sign a document.

SWEAR - To take an oath.

TESTATOR - The person making a will.

VENUE - The location of the notarial act, usually stated in the form:

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
COUNTY OF________

WILL - An instrument by which a person makes a disposition of his or her property, to take effect after his or her death.