Do not sign your document before we arrive
That is the one instruction worth remembering, and it holds for every kind of notarization. Some notarial acts legally require your signature to happen in front of the notary. A document that arrives already signed sometimes has to be reprinted and signed again, and that is the most common reason an appointment has to be repeated.
When in doubt, leave every signature line blank. We will sort out what goes where when we get there. Waiting costs you nothing; signing early can cost you the whole appointment.
Signature witnessing, acknowledgments, and jurats
Colorado recognizes three notarial acts that come up in ordinary work, and we perform all three.
Signature witnessing is the most common. We watch you sign, confirm your identity, and attest that the signature is yours. You have to sign in front of us.
An acknowledgment is you declaring to us that the signature on the document is yours and that you signed willingly. This is the one act the law does allow you to sign in advance, and we still ask you not to. A document you bring pre-signed cannot be turned into a jurat or a signature witnessing if that is what it needed.
A jurat is a sworn statement that the contents of the document are true. Colorado requires you to sign it in front of us and to swear or affirm to it out loud. Affidavits and sworn statements are almost always jurats.
Most documents say which one they need, usually right in the signature block. If yours doesn’t say, ask when you text and we’ll tell you which it is.
Documents notarized
Estate and family
Wills, living trusts, durable powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, advance directives, and guardianship or conservatorship forms. These often get signed under time pressure: a hospital bedside, a family member about to move out of state, an aging parent who needs a power of attorney finalized before a procedure. Bringing the notary to the kitchen table or the hospital room is usually easier than getting an ill or elderly signer to an office.
Business and legal
Contracts, corporate resolutions, vendor agreements, affidavits, depositions, sworn statements, and I-9 employment verification. Small businesses around Boulder use this for everything from a new hire’s I-9 to a resolution that has to be notarized before a filing deadline. Sworn statements and affidavits are almost always jurats, so leave them unsigned.
Real estate
Individual real estate documents: deeds, affidavits of title, and property transfer forms. This covers the single notarized document a transaction sometimes needs outside the closing package. It is not a loan signing service; see below.
Hospital, care facility, and home visits
We come to hospital rooms and care facilities anywhere in the service area, Foothills in Boulder and Good Samaritan in Lafayette among them, along with assisted living and senior living communities.
This is often the most time-sensitive work we do: a power of attorney or an advance directive that has to be signed now, by someone who cannot travel to an office. Sometimes it lands in a hard week for the family, and the notarization is a small technical step inside something much larger.
Here is how we handle those appointments. We talk to the signer directly, even when a family member arranged the visit and is doing most of the talking. We confirm identity and willingness without turning it into an interrogation. We keep it brief, we do not crowd the room, and we leave on an ordinary note rather than a solemn one. If the signer tires easily, is on a medication schedule, or has limited visiting hours, say so when you text and we will plan the timing around it.
What we don’t do
We do general notary work rather than specialty signing services. Three things we don’t offer yet:
- Loan signings. Refinance and purchase loan packages need a certified signing agent, not a general notary. Your title company or lender can refer you to one.
- Apostilles. An apostille is issued by the Colorado Secretary of State, not a notary. The underlying document can be notarized here, but the apostille itself is a separate state process.
- Remote online notarization (RON). Every signing we do is in person. If you need a document notarized remotely, look for a RON-commissioned notary or an online notary platform, and expect to pay more than $15 for it. Colorado allows an additional fee for a notary’s electronic signature, and the platforms usually add a charge of their own.
Colorado notaries also cannot certify copies of vital records: birth, death, or marriage certificates. Those come only from the issuing government agency.
A notary can’t give legal advice or tell you which document you need, and can’t serve as a witness on a document they’re notarizing. If your document requires witnesses, arrange them yourself before the appointment.
What you’ll need
Bring unexpired, government-issued photo ID, and bring the document unsigned. If other people have to sign, they need to be there with their own unexpired photo ID.
If you were asked to bring printed copies and don’t have an easy way to print them, send us the file ahead of time and we’ll bring them printed. That’s $0.50 a page, up to 100 pages. We can’t print at the appointment, so it has to be arranged before we leave.
Fees
Notarization is $15 per document, however many signatures and signers it involves. Travel starts at $50 and is quoted before anyone drives. There’s no surcharge for evenings, weekends, or same-day requests within our regular hours.
Areas served
Boulder, Longmont, Broomfield, Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, Superior, Arvada, and Westminster.
How to book
Available seven days a week, 8am to 8pm. Those are preferred hours rather than a hard limit; if something urgent comes up outside that window, ask anyway. Text (720) 575-1623, or email [email protected]. A text is the fastest way to get a time confirmed.