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

Who it is for

Notaries commissioned through the West Virginia Secretary of State, notary division, mobile notaries and signing agents working in West Virginia who want West Virginia'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 West Virginia notary, or you only need to read the wording: it's public law and free on our West Virginia 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: W. Va. Code § 39-4-16, Short form certificates (West Virginia Legislature); West Virginia Notary Handbook, rev. September 2025 (West Virginia Secretary of State). No association templates or vendor forms.
• Every core act has an official West Virginia form, each cited. Checked November 2026.
• The wording is public law and free on our West Virginia page; the pack is the fill-in files, the chart and the checklist.

What is inside

• Which certificate do I use? (West Virginia). One page: each West Virginia notarial act, when it's used and where its wording comes from: acknowledgment (individual) (W. Va. Code § 39-4-16(1)); acknowledgment (representative capacity) (W. Va. Code § 39-4-16(2)); jurat (verification on oath or affirmation) (W. Va. Code § 39-4-16(3)); signature witnessing (W. Va. Code § 39-4-16(4)); copy certification (W. Va. Code § 39-4-16(5)).
• West Virginia certificate wording reference. Every form word for word with its source and check date. The acknowledgment reads "This record was acknowledged before me on .............. [Date] by ........................................ [Name(s) of individual(s)]" and the jurat "Signed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on ............ (Date) by ...................................... [Name(s) of individual(s)] making statement" Then what a West Virginia certificate must contain: the short forms are sufficient when completed with the information § 39-4-15(a) and (b) requires; sign by hand with an original signature (never a reproduction) and include your commission expiration date and title of office; the rubber-stamp seal shows Official Seal, Notary Public, State of West Virginia, your name, an address (yours or your business's), your commission expiration date and a border, no larger than 1 by 2.5 inches.
• Fill-in certificates (Word and PDF). Five certificates, one per page, for the acknowledgment (individual), acknowledgment (representative capacity), jurat (verification on oath or affirmation), signature witnessing and copy certification, with blanks for the venue, date, names and your signature, seal and commission details. Remote acts: The handbook gives no separate remote certificate sentence. It says the seal on a remote act must state that the act involved communication technology and that electronic certificate wording follows W. Va. Code § 39-4-16. No official remote form found in the sources we read; check with the West Virginia Secretary of State.
• Common-mistakes checklist. Six mistakes from West Virginia Notary Handbook, rev. September 2025 (West Virginia Secretary of State), among them: certifying a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate, deed, will or license that a West Virginia office can certify; putting several signers who appeared at different times on one certificate; each needs a separate certificate with identical wording; leaving out the required phrase when someone signs at the direction of a person who can't sign. Plus a before-you-sign check.