How to Get a Document Notarized in Boston

How to get a document notarized in Boston

To get a document notarized in Boston, you appear in person before a Massachusetts notary public with your completed document and a current government-issued photo ID. The notary confirms your identity, watches you sign or has you acknowledge your signature, and completes a notarial certificate with their signature and seal. In Boston you can find a notary at many banks, shipping and business service stores and law offices, or have a mobile notary come to your home, office, hotel or hospital room.

Where to find a notary in Boston

Wherever you go, call ahead to confirm that a notary will be available and willing to notarize your type of document.

What to bring

• Identification. A current driver's license, state ID or passport works for almost everyone. See notary ID requirements for other options.
• The whole document. Bring every page, completely filled in. A notary should not notarize a document with blanks that ought to be filled in.
• Witnesses, if required. Wills and health care proxies, for example, require two witnesses. See Massachusetts witness requirements.
• The recipient's instructions. If the document is going to a court, a lender, a foreign government or an agency, bring its instructions.

What happens at the appointment

1. The notary reviews your ID and confirms that you understand the document and are signing willingly.
2. You tell the notary what kind of notarization you need, such as an acknowledgment or a jurat. The notary cannot choose it for you. See acknowledgment vs. jurat.
3. You sign, or acknowledge your signature, and swear or affirm if the act requires it.
4. The notary completes the certificate, signs and seals it, and records the act in their journal.

Massachusetts notarial acts are defined in M.G.L. c. 222, § 1. A notary is an impartial official, not a lawyer, and cannot prepare your document or explain its legal effect.

Boston situations that call for a mobile notary

• Hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Most hospitals do not provide notaries for patients' personal documents. See Do hospitals have notaries? and our Boston hospital notary guide.
• Hotels. Visitors signing documents during a stay can meet a notary in the lobby or a meeting room. See hotel notary services in Boston.
• Offices. Companies with several signers or a stack of documents can have the notary come on-site.
• Homes and senior living. Signers who cannot travel easily can sign where they are comfortable.
• Documents headed abroad. A document for use in another country needs a Massachusetts notarization done correctly so the Secretary of the Commonwealth can apostille it. See how to get an apostille in Massachusetts.

What a notary cannot notarize

• Public records. A notary cannot certify a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate. Those come from the city or town clerk or the state Registry. In Boston, the City of Boston Registry at City Hall issues certified copies. See vital records retrieval.
• Their own documents, or documents in which they have a personal interest.
• A signer who seems not to understand the document or appears to be under pressure.

How we help

Boston Mobile Notary & Apostille Service comes to you anywhere in Boston and across Massachusetts, including homes, offices, hotels, hospitals and senior living communities. We notarize powers of attorney, estate plans, affidavits, real estate documents and corporate documents, and we handle the apostille for documents headed abroad. See our mobile notary service or the statewide guide, How to Notarize a Document in Massachusetts.