Hawaii Notarial Certificate Wording Pack: Official Forms, Fill-In Certificates and a Mistakes Checklist

Who it is for

Notaries commissioned through the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, notary public office, mobile notaries and signing agents working in Hawaii who want Hawaii's own certificate wording on hand, ready to fill in when a document arrives without a certificate.

Not the right fit if

You aren't a Hawaii notary, or you only need to read the wording: it's public law and free on our Hawaii certificate wording page. This pack doesn't decide which certificate a document needs or replace advice from an attorney.

Why it is different

• Only official sources: Notary Public Manual, State of Hawai'i (Department of the Attorney General, updated 2023-04-14). No association templates or vendor forms.
• Where Hawaii has no official form (signature witnessing, copy certification), the pack says so instead of inventing wording. Checked November 2026.
• The wording is public law and free on our Hawaii page; the pack is the fill-in files, the chart and the checklist.

What is inside

• Which certificate do I use? (Hawaii). One page: each Hawaii notarial act, when it's used and where its wording comes from: acknowledgment (individual) (Notary Public Manual, p. 12 (sample)); acknowledgment for a corporation (Notary Public Manual, p. 12 (sample)); jurat (verification on oath or affirmation) (Notary Public Manual, pp. 9-10 (sample)); Hawaii notary certification block (HAR 5-11-8, Notary Public Manual p. 13). Acts with no official form found are marked so: signature witnessing, copy certification.
• Hawaii certificate wording reference. Every form word for word with its source and check date. The acknowledgment reads " ) SS. On this ____ day of ________, 20__, before me personally appeared ____________, to me known to be the person described in and who executed the foregoing instrument and acknowledged that he executed the same as his free act and ..." and the jurat " ) SS. Subscribed and sworn to before me this ____ day of ________, 20__." Then what a Hawaii certificate must contain: every acknowledgment or jurat is evidenced by a certificate signed and dated by the notary, with your printed name, official stamp or seal, signature, the jurisdiction and the date of notarization (HAR 5-11-8); the venue is a judicial circuit (Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii or Kauai, under HRS 603-1); the date is the date you sign; the seal is a circular rubber stamp, no more than 2 inches across with a serrated or milled edge, showing your name, commission number, notary public and State of Hawaii. Your signature matches the name on the seal, with your printed name and commission expiration date.
• Fill-in certificates (Word and PDF). Four certificates, one per page, for the acknowledgment (individual), acknowledgment for a corporation, jurat (verification on oath or affirmation) and Hawaii notary certification block, with blanks for the venue, date, names and your signature, seal and commission details. Remote acts: For a remote online notarization, the electronic certificate must indicate that the notarial act was performed using communication technology (HAR 5-11-72(d), as quoted in the manual). Only a commissioned remote online notary public may do this; telephone notarization is forbidden.
• Common-mistakes checklist. Six mistakes from Notary Public Manual, State of Hawai'i (Department of the Attorney General, updated 2023-04-14), among them: leaving out the date, signature, printed name, seal or jurisdiction; the manual says an incomplete certification is an offense; certifying a signature when the signer wasn't present; notarizing changes in a document that weren't initialed. Plus a before-you-sign check.