2016 Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 5 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
5 ILCS 312/ - Illinois Notary Public Act.
Article VI - Notarial Acts And Forms

(5 ILCS 312/Art. VI heading)

(5 ILCS 312/6-101) (from Ch. 102, par. 206-101)
Sec. 6-101. Definitions.
(a) "Notarial act" means any act that a notary public of this State is authorized to perform and includes taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking a verification upon oath or affirmation, and witnessing or attesting a signature.
(b) "Acknowledgment" means a declaration by a person that the person has executed an instrument for the purposes stated therein and, if the instrument is executed in a representative capacity, that the person signed the instrument with proper authority and executed it as the act of the person or entity represented and identified therein.
(c) "Verification upon oath or affirmation" means a declaration that a statement is true made by a person upon oath or affirmation.
(d) "In a representative capacity" means:
(1) for and on behalf of a corporation, partnership,

trust, or other entity, as an authorized officer, agent, partner, trustee, or other representative;

(2) as a public officer, personal representative,

guardian, or other representative, in the capacity recited in the instrument;

(3) as an attorney in fact for a principal; or
(4) in any other capacity as an authorized

representative of another.

(Source: P.A. 84-322.)

(5 ILCS 312/6-102) (from Ch. 102, par. 206-102)
Sec. 6-102. Notarial Acts.
(a) In taking an acknowledgment, the notary public must determine, either from personal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the person appearing before the notary and making the acknowledgment is the person whose true signature is on the instrument.
(b) In taking a verification upon oath or affirmation, the notary public must determine, either from personal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the person appearing before the notary and making the verification is the person whose true signature is on the statement verified.
(c) In witnessing or attesting a signature, the notary public must determine, either from personal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the signature is that of the person appearing before the notary and named therein.
(d) A notary public has satisfactory evidence that a person is the person whose true signature is on a document if that person:
(1) is personally known to the notary;
(2) is identified upon the oath or affirmation of a

credible witness personally known to the notary; or

(3) is identified on the basis of identification

documents. Identification documents are documents that are valid at the time of the notarial act, issued by a state agency, federal government agency, or consulate, and bearing the photographic image of the individual's face and signature of the individual.

(Source: P.A. 97-397, eff. 1-1-12; 98-29, eff. 6-21-13.)

(5 ILCS 312/6-103) (from Ch. 102, par. 206-103)
Sec. 6-103. Certificate of Notarial Acts.
(a) A notarial act must be evidenced by a certificate signed and dated by the notary public. The certificate must include identification of the jurisdiction in which the notarial act is performed and the official seal of office.
(b) A certificate of a notarial act is sufficient if it meets the requirements of subsection (a) and it:
(1) is in the short form set forth in Section 6-105;
(2) is in a form otherwise prescribed by the law of

this State; or

(3) sets forth the actions of the notary public and

those are sufficient to meet the requirements of the designated notarial act.

(Source: P.A. 84-322.)

(5 ILCS 312/6-104) (from Ch. 102, par. 206-104)
Sec. 6-104. Acts Prohibited.
(a) A notary public shall not use any name or initial in signing certificates other than that by which the notary was commissioned.
(b) A notary public shall not acknowledge any instrument in which the notary's name appears as a party to the transaction.
(c) A notary public shall not affix his signature to a blank form of affidavit or certificate of acknowledgment and deliver that form to another person with intent that it be used as an affidavit or acknowledgment.
(d) A notary public shall not take the acknowledgment of or administer an oath to any person whom the notary actually knows to have been adjudged mentally ill by a court of competent jurisdiction and who has not been restored to mental health as a matter of record.
(e) A notary public shall not take the acknowledgment of any person who is blind until the notary has read the instrument to such person.
(f) A notary public shall not take the acknowledgment of any person who does not speak or understand the English language, unless the nature and effect of the instrument to be notarized is translated into a language which the person does understand.
(g) A notary public shall not change anything in a written instrument after it has been signed by anyone.
(h) No notary public shall be authorized to prepare any legal instrument, or fill in the blanks of an instrument, other than a notary certificate; however, this prohibition shall not prohibit an attorney, who is also a notary public, from performing notarial acts for any document prepared by that attorney.
(i) If a notary public accepts or receives any money from any one to whom an oath has been administered or on behalf of whom an acknowledgment has been taken for the purpose of transmitting or forwarding such money to another and willfully fails to transmit or forward such money promptly, the notary is personally liable for any loss sustained because of such failure. The person or persons damaged by such failure may bring an action to recover damages, together with interest and reasonable attorney fees, against such notary public or his bondsmen.
(Source: P.A. 85-421.)

(5 ILCS 312/6-105) (from Ch. 102, par. 206-105)
Sec. 6-105. Short Forms. The following short form certificates of notarial acts are sufficient for the purposes indicated.
(a) For an acknowledgment in an individual capacity:
State of _________________
County of ________________
This instrument was acknowledged before me on ___________(date) by ___________________(name/s of person/s).
____________________________ (Signature of Notary Public) (Seal)

(b) For an acknowledgment in a representative capacity:
State of ______________________
County of _____________________
This instrument was acknowledged before me on _________(date) by __________________(name/s of person/s) as _________________________________(type of authority, e.g., officer, trustee, etc.) of _________________________(name of party on behalf of whom instrument was executed).
_______________________________ (Signature of Notary Public) (Seal)

(c) For a verification upon oath or affirmation:
State of _________________
County of_________________
Signed and sworn (or affirmed) to before me on _________(date) by _____________________(name/s of person/s making statement).
_______________________________ (Signature of Notary Public) (Seal)

(d) For witnessing or attesting a signature:
State of_________________
County of _______________
Signed or attested before me on __________(date) by __________________(name/s of person/s).
_______________________________ (Signature of Notary Public) (Seal)
(Source: P.A. 84-322.)