SCENARIO: A New Jersey Notary Public's commission is expiring. The notary obtains a renewal commission and takes the oath of office. The notary has not yet received or obtained an updated Notary Stamp (seal) bearing the new commission expiration date. The notary continues to notarize documents using the old stamp with the now-expired expiration date. The notary strikes through the expired date and hand-writes the updated commission expiration date. NJNA DETERMINATION: This is not an allowable practice. The act of crossing out an old commission expiration date on a notarial stamp and handwriting a new one is not permitted under New Jersey law. This practice violates the statutory requirements for an official notary stamp and undermines the integrity of the notarial act. The specific legal mandates are found in both the New Jersey Revised Statutes and the New Jersey Administrative Code. 1. THE STATUTE REQUIRES THE EXPIRATION DATE TO BE PART OF THE OFFICIAL STAMP New Jersey law explicitly requires that the commission expiration date be a physical component of the official stamp itself, not a notation added later. The primary statute governing this, N.J.S.A. 52:7-10.5, states unequivocally: "The official stamp of a notary public shall: (1) include the name of the notary public, the title 'Notary Public, State of New Jersey,' and the notary public's commission expiration date; and (2) be capable of being copied together with the record to which it is affixed or attached or with which it is logically associated." The key word in this statute is "include." The expiration date must be part of the stamp's pre-designed, permanent impression. A handwritten alteration is not part of the official stamp and therefore fails to meet this requirement. 2. THE ADMIN CODE REINFORCED THE REQUIREMENT The requirement is further reinforced by the New Jersey Administrative Code. N.J.A.C. 17:50-1.8(g) repeats the mandate from the statute, stating: "The official stamp of a notary public shall: 1. Include the name of the notary public, the title 'Notary Public, State of New Jersey,' and the notary public's commission expiration date; and 2. Be capable of being copied together with the record to which it is affixed or attached or with which it is logically associated."

QUESTION RECEIVED VIA NJNA WEBSITE: I was completing a notarial certificate, and it was asking for a social security number. Why would they do this? NJNA RESPONSE: Great question! And one we’re glad you asked! Upon further review, the document was not requesting a Social Security number. Instead, it included the letters “SS” within the venue portion of the notarial certificate. This is very common in traditional notarial wording and typically appears like this: STATE OF NEW JERSEY _____ } _____________________________ } SS COUNTY OF MERCER ________} The “SS” shown here is not a reference to a Social Security number. It is an abbreviation of the Latin term scilicet, meaning “namely”, “to wit", or "in particular". In notarial practice, it simply designates the venue (the location where the notarial act is performed). In other words, it is a historical legal abbreviation identifying where the notarization took place, nothing more. If you ever encounter wording in a certificate that is unclear, always take a moment to review it carefully before proceeding. When in doubt, consult the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services Notary Public Manual or reach out to NJNA for guidance. We’re always here to help clarify these common (and sometimes confusing!) notarial terms.

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Question received via the NJNA website: “This hasn’t happened to me, but I’m curious. If someone presents a document and they know they need a jurat, is it permissible for me to write one in by hand? Or does it have to be typed?” Response: Great question — and one that comes up more often than you might think. Yes, you may write in a notarial certificate by hand if a document is missing one and there is sufficient space to do so. While it is often considered best practice to attach a pre-printed loose jurat certificate or type the wording for clarity and uniformity, there is nothing in New Jersey Notary Association guidance or New Jersey law that prohibits you from legibly handwriting the required certificate wording directly on the document. As always, make sure the certificate is complete, accurate, and includes all required elements for a proper jurat. Jurat format for an Oath: State of New Jersey County of XYZ Sworn and Subscribed to before me this XX day of XX, 2026. Jurat format for an Affirmation State of New Jersey County of XYZ Affirmed and Subscribed to before me on this XX day of XX, 2026.

NJNA Q&A: Correcting Errors in a Notarial Certificate The following question was submitted via the NJNA website contact page: “I was asked to notarize a document that has incorrect information in the acknowledgment. It lists State of Texas, County of Harris. It also had an incorrect date pre-filled in. Can I correct it or do I need to attach a new loose certificate?” ANSWER: Great question. Either option can be acceptable depending on the situation. If there is sufficient space on the document to make the correction, you may correct the certificate without attaching a loose certificate. Best practices for correcting a notarial certificate: - Draw a single horizontal line through the incorrect information.(In this example, draw a line through “Texas,” “Harris County,” and the incorrect date.) - Do not obliterate the incorrect text. One line is sufficient — the original wording should remain legible. - Write the correct state, county, and date above, below, or next to the incorrect wording. - Initial the correction. - Proceed with the notarization as you normally would. When to Use a Loose Certificate: If the document does not have enough space to make corrections, you should attach a loose certificate instead. NJNA suggests writing “See Attached Certificate” in the space where your signature would have appeared if you had completed the original certificate. While not required, this is a strong best practice because it: - Alerts the document holder that an additional page is attached - Creates a clear record that you completed your due diligence If you have a question you would like to submit for a future Q&A post, you can do so by: - Creating a post under the “Ask NJNA” tab - Sending us a direct message on the Skool platform - Emailing us at [email protected] Questions submitted via direct message or email will be shared without identifying the member who submitted the question.