What is notarization?
Is any act that a notary public is empowered to perform under the Rules on Notarial Practice which includes:
- Acknowledgments;
- Oath and affirmations;
- Jurats;
- Signature witnessings;
- Copy certifications; and
- Any other act authorized by these Rules. (Rule IV Section 1)
Notarization is not an empty, meaningless, routinary act. (Dela Cruz vs. Zabala)
Legal Bases/Resources:
What documents need notarization?
Required for Validity (The contract is void if not notarized) or enforceability:
- Donations of real property: A donation of an immovable property must be in a public instrument to be valid.
- Partnership Agreements: A contract of partnership must appear in a public instrument (notarized) if it has a capital of 3,000 pesos or more, or if immovable property or real rights are contributed to it
- . Furthermore, if immovable property is contributed, an inventory of the property must be attached to the public instrument, otherwise the partnership contract is void.
- Notarial wills: Every notarial will must be acknowledged before a notary public by the testator and the witnesses. (Article 806, New Civil Code)
- Chattel mortgages: These must be in a public document and accompanied by an affidavit of good faith.
- Voting Trust Agreements: If stockholders wish to confer upon a trustee the right to vote their shares, the agreement must be in writing and notarized; otherwise, it is ineffective and unenforceable.
- Maritime Contracts: Documents relating to commerce or navigation, such as bills of sale, bottomries, mortgages of vessels, and charter parties, are commonly acknowledged before notaries. Loans on bottomry or respondentia can be executed by means of a public instrument.
- Hereditary Rights: Any cession, repudiation, or renunciation of hereditary rights, or rights involving the conjugal partnership of gains, must appear in a public document. (Article 1358 (2), New Civil Code)
- Powers of Attorney: A power to administer property, letters of attorney, or any power which has for its object an act that must appear in a public document. (Article 1358 (3), New Civil Code)
- Cession of Actions: The transfer or cession of actions or rights proceeding from an act already appearing in a public document. (Article 1358 (4), New Civil Code)
Required for Convenience or Binding Third Persons (Valid between parties, but must be notarized to be registered and bind the public):
- Contracts that create, transmit, modify, or extinguish real rights over immovable property, such as a deed of sale for land.
- The cession, repudiation, or renunciation of hereditary rights or conjugal partnership of gains.
- The power to administer property.
- The cession of actions or rights proceeding from an act appearing in a public document.
Why do we need to notarize documents?
- A notarized document is by law entitled to full faith and credit upon its face, and for this reason, notaries public must observe the utmost care to comply with the elementary formalities in performing their duties. (Realino vs. Villamor) Once it bears the signature of a notary public, the burden to disprove the document’s authenticity shifts to the one who alleges.
- The function of a notary public is, among others, to guard against any illegal or immoral arrangements. That function would be defeated if the notary public were one of the signatories to the instrument. (Villarin vs. Sabate)
- Conversion to a public document. Notarization converts a private document into a public document and makes it admissible in evidence without further proof of authenticity.
- It means that all the parties therein personally appeared before the notary public;
- The parties are all personally known to the notary public;
- They were the same persons who executed the instruments;
- He inquired into the voluntariness of execution of the instrument; and
- They acknowledged personally before him that they voluntarily and freely executed the same.
How to notarize a document?
- Signed in his presence. A notarial officer must demand that a document be signed in his presence. (Realino vs. Villamor) The notary public must ascertain the identities of the affiants. (Delacruz vs. Zabala)
- Must personally appear. The persons who signed must be the very persons who personally appeared. The facts stated there are facts they have personal knowledge of and not through their representatives.
Notes:
- If delegated, the representative’s names must appear. This cannot be delegated, because it requires personal knowledge. Otherwise, their representative’s names should appear in the said documents. – Villarin vs. Sabate, RA 2103
- Respect of the legal solemnity of an oath in an acknowledgment or jurat is [sacred] sacrosanct – Arrieta v. Llosa
- To disregard the requirements is illegal and has possible damage or prejudice. – Arrieta vs. Llosa
Who can notarize a document?
A person can notarize a document when an Executive Judge has issued him a notarial commission.
To be commissioned as a notary public, he must submit a petition and must have the following qualifications:
- Must be a citizen of the Philippines;
- Must be over 21 years old;
- Must be a resident in the Philippines for at least 1 year and maintains a regular place of work or business in the city or province where the commission is to be issued;
- Must be a lawyer (a member of the Philippine Bar) in good standing with clearances from the Office of the Bar Confidant of the Supreme Court and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines;
- Must not have been convicted in the first instance of any crime involving moral turpitude.
Source: Rule III Sec. 1
How much to notarize a document?
It depends on your region, but the minimum notarization fee based on IBP recommendation is P500. It will also depend if it involves document preparation, acknowledgment, and authentication.