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

Who it is for

Notaries commissioned through the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, notary section, mobile notaries and signing agents working in North Carolina who want North Carolina'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 North Carolina notary, or you only need to read the wording: it's public law and free on our North Carolina 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: N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 10B, Notaries (North Carolina General Assembly). No association templates or vendor forms.
• Where North Carolina has no official form (representative acknowledgment, signature witnessing, copy certification), the pack says so instead of inventing wording. Checked November 2026.
• The wording is public law and free on our North Carolina page; the pack is the fill-in files, the chart and the checklist.

What is inside

• Which certificate do I use? (North Carolina). One page: each North Carolina notarial act, when it's used and where its wording comes from: acknowledgment (individual) (G.S. 10B-41(a)); oath or affirmation (jurat) (G.S. 10B-43(a)); verification or proof by a subscribing witness (G.S. 10B-42(a)). Acts with no official form found are marked so: representative acknowledgment, signature witnessing, copy certification.
• North Carolina certificate wording reference. Every form word for word with its source and check date. The acknowledgment reads "I certify that the following person(s) personally appeared before me this day, each acknowledging to me that he or she signed the foregoing document: ____________ (name(s) of principal(s))." and the jurat "Signed and sworn to before me this day by ____________ (name of principal)." Then what a North Carolina certificate must contain: don't issue a certificate unless you have personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the principal's identity; an acknowledgment certificate identifies the state and county, names the principal, states that the principal personally appeared and acknowledged signing, gives the date, and has your signature, seal and commission expiration date; an oath or affirmation certificate names the principal, states that the principal signed and swore or affirmed the truth of the record, gives the date, and has your signature, seal and commission expiration date.
• Fill-in certificates (Word and PDF). Three certificates, one per page, for the acknowledgment (individual), oath or affirmation (jurat) and verification or proof by a subscribing witness, with blanks for the venue, date, names and your signature, seal and commission details. Remote acts: We did not read a remote electronic notarization certificate sentence (Article 4A of Chapter 10B). For emergency video notarization, G.S. 10B-25(g) required the certificate to name the North Carolina county where the notary was located and a statement that the notary signed the certificate according to the emergency video notarization requirements of G.S. 10B-25. Check with the Department of the Secretary of State for current remote wording.
• Common-mistakes checklist. Five mistakes from N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 10B, Notaries (North Carolina General Assembly), among them: completing a certificate without personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of identity; using the acknowledgment form when the principal is swearing to the contents, or the reverse; using the verification form for a subscribing witness who is a grantee or beneficiary of the transaction. Plus a before-you-sign check.