The City Clerk's Office has notaries public who are available to notarize certain documents for $1.00 per seal.
LEGAL LIMITS
A Notary Public does not provide legal advice to a requestor of this service; nor can the Notary attest to the requestor’s state of mind.
SERVICE LIMITS
Notary Public services are normally available during regular business hours of City Hall. To assure that the Office can accommodate your service needs, we recommend that you contact the Office ahead of time by calling 978-374-2312 to confirm the availability of Notary Public services.
SERVICE GUIDELINES
As it is the case with any service offered to the public, there are several limits as to what a Notary Public can provide. The following is a list of documents that a Notary Public is not able to notarize:
- copies of vital records
- passports
- drivers licenses
- tax documents
- diplomas/professional certificates
- titles to vehicles or trailers
- I-9 forms (employee verification forms)
SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
In order to provide valid Notary Public Service(s), requestors are responsible for the following:
- Any signatory(s) to a document(s) presented for notary service must provide a valid, government-issued photo identification;
- The document presented for notary service cannot be pre-signed or dated;
- All signers to the document presented for notary service must be present to sign so that the Notary can witness the signature during the notarization process;
-The document presented for notary service must contain the appropriate Notarial Statements (Clauses).In accordance with State Notary Public Procedures there are no exceptions to this requirement. These Clauses include the following:
Types of Notary: Jurat (statements are true) OR Acknowledgement (ones free act)
The Oath given by the Notary to identify the type of notary act;
-Signatory(s) to the document presented for notary service will need to bring witnesses with them for any documents requiring witness signatures. Such witnesses will also need to present proper identification (see above) to the Notary at the time of signature.
RESERVATION TO PROVIDE NOTARY SERVICES
In accordance with Massachusetts Notarial practice, the City Clerk’s Office reserves the right to deny notarial services, in their sole discretion, if:
- the above mentioned limits and guidelines are not followed;
- documents are incomplete or are in questionable format;
- documents do not include a proper notarial clause/statement;
- documents are printed in any language other than English;
-the request for Notary service(s) gives rise to any issue of authenticity, ambiguity, doubt or uncertainty.