1872.)
ARTICLE 3. Proof and Acknowledgment of Instruments [1180 — 1207]
(Article 3 enacted 1872.)
1180. The proof or acknowledgment of an instrument may be made at any place within this state before a justice, retired justice, or clerk of the Supreme Court, a justice, retired justice, or clerk of any court of appeal or judge or retired judge of a superior court, or the Secretary of the Senate or Chief Clerk of the Assembly.
(Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 20, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2000.)
1181. The proof or acknowledgment of an instrument may be made before a notary public at any place within this state, or within the county or city and county in this state in which the officer specified below was elected or appointed, before either:
(a) A clerk of a superior court.
(b) A county clerk.
(c) A court commissioner.
(d) A retired judge of a municipal or justice court.
(e) A district attorney.
(f) A clerk of a board of supervisors.
(g) A city clerk.
(h) A county counsel.
(i) A city attorney.
(j) Secretary of the Senate.
(k) Chief Clerk of the Assembly.
(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 784, Sec. 12. Effective January 1, 2003.)
1182. The proof or acknowledgment of an instrument may be made without this state, but within the United States, and within the jurisdiction of the officer, before any of the following:
(1) A justice, judge, or clerk of any court of record of the United States.
(2) A justice, judge, or clerk of any court of record of any state.
(3) A commissioner appointed by the Governor or Secretary of State for that purpose.
(4) A notary public.
(5) Any other officer of the state where the acknowledgment is made authorized by its laws to take such proof or acknowledgment.
(Amended by Stats. 1971, Ch. 1611.)
1183. The proof or acknowledgment of an instrument may be made without the United States, before any of the following:
(a) A minister, commissioner, or chargè d’affaires of the United States, resident and accredited in the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made.
(b) A consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States, resident in the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made.
(c) A judge of a court of record of the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made.
(d) Commissioners appointed by the Governor or Secretary of State for that purpose.
(e) A notary public.
If the proof or acknowledgment is made before a notary public, the signature of the notary public shall be proved or acknowledged (1) before a judge of a court of record of the country where the proof or acknowledgment is made, or (2) by any American diplomatic officer, consul general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent, or (3) by an apostille (certification) affixed to the instrument pursuant to the terms of The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents.
(Amended by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1017, Sec. 1.)
1183.5. Any officer on active duty or performing inactive-duty training in the armed forces having the general powers of a notary public pursuant to Section 936 or 1044a of Title 10 of the United States Code (Public Law 90-632 and 101–510) and any successor statutes may perform all notarial acts for any person serving in the armed forces of the United States, wherever he or she may be, or for any spouse of a person serving in the armed forces, wherever he or she may be, or for any person eligible for legal assistance under laws and regulations of the United States, wherever he or she may be, for any person serving with, employed by, or accompanying such armed forces outside the United States and outside the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands, and any person subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice outside of the United States.
Any instrument acknowledged by any such officer or any oath or affirmation made before such officer shall not be rendered invalid by the failure to state therein the place of execution or acknowledgment. No seal or authentication of the officer’s certificate of acknowledgment or of any jurat signed by him or her shall be required but the officer taking the acknowledgment shall endorse thereon or attach thereto a certificate substantially in a form authorized by the laws of this state or in the following form:
On this the ___ day of ____, 19_, before me _____, the undersigned officer, personally appeared _____ known to me (or satisfactorily proven) to be (a) serving in the armed forces of the United States, (b) a spouse of a person serving in the armed forces of the United States, or (c) a person serving with, employed by, or accompanying the armed forces of the United States outside the United States and outside the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, and to be the person whose name is subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged that he or she executed the same. And the undersigned does further certify that he or she is at the date of this certificate a commissioned officer of the armed forces of the United States having the general powers of a notary public under the provisions of Section 936 or 1044a of Title 10 of the United States Code (Public Law 90-632 and 101–510).
Signature of officer, rank, branch of service and capacity in which signed.
To any affidavit subscribed and sworn to before such officer there shall be attached a jurat substantially in the following form:
Subscribed and sworn to before me on this ____ day of _______, 19__.
Signature of officer, rank, branch of service and capacity in which signed.
The recitals contained in any such certificate or jurat shall be prima facie evidence of the truth thereof, and any certificate of acknowledgment, oath or affirmation purporting to have been made by any commissioned officer of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard shall, notwithstanding the omission of any specific recitals therein, constitute presumptive evidence of the existence of the facts necessary to authorize such acknowledgment, oath or affirmation to be taken by the certifying officer pursuant to this section.
(Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 587, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1995.)
1184. When any of the officers mentioned in Sections 1180, 1181, 1182, and 1183 are authorized by a law to appoint a deputy, the acknowledgment or proof may be taken by such deputy, in the name of his principal.
(Amended by Stats. 1953, Ch. 457.)
1185. (a) The acknowledgment of an instrument shall not be taken unless the officer taking it has satisfactory evidence that the person making the acknowledgment is the individual who is described in and who executed the instrument.
