Estate Planning Document Notarization
Serving Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek and Apache Junction, Arizona
An estate plan is rarely one document. It is a stack of them, several of which need a notary and some of which need witnesses too, and it is much easier to do the stack in one sitting than to chase signatures over three weeks.
A typical packet includes a will, a trust, a financial power of attorney, a health care power of attorney, a living will, a HIPAA authorization, and sometimes a deed moving a property into the trust. Different pieces have different requirements, and the difference between a plan that works and a plan that gets argued about is usually whether each piece got the treatment it needed.
The appointment happens where the family is, which matters more than it sounds. Elderly signers who would struggle with a trip to an office sign at home, in their own chair, without a clock running. Adult children who flew in for the weekend get it done on the weekend.
A notary is not an attorney and cannot draft your documents, tell you which ones you need, or advise which notarial certificate a document should carry — that is legal advice and it is illegal for a notary to give it. What a notary can do is verify identity, confirm the signer is signing willingly and knowingly, and complete the notarial act correctly, which is the part that keeps the plan from being challenged on a technicality.
If the plan came from an attorney, bring their signing instructions. Attorneys routinely specify which documents need witnesses, how many, and who is disqualified from being one; following those instructions is faster than reconstructing them.
What to have ready
- Unexpired government photo ID for every person signing
- The complete packet, printed single-sided and unstapled where the attorney asked for it
- Any signing instructions from the drafting attorney
- Two witnesses who are not beneficiaries, if the documents call for them
Who books this
- Families putting a plan in place for a parent
- Estate planning attorneys who need a mobile signing
- Couples updating documents after a move to Arizona
- Anyone who has had a packet sitting unsigned in a drawer
Questions
- Can you provide the witnesses?
- The notary cannot be one of the witnesses on documents where the witnesses' signatures are the thing being notarized. Bring two adults who are not named in the documents and do not stand to inherit; friends and neighbours are the usual answer.
- Can you tell me whether I need a will or a trust?
- No — that is legal advice, and a notary who gives it is committing the unauthorized practice of law. That question belongs to an estate planning attorney.
- Do all estate planning documents need a notary?
- Not all of them, and the packet usually says. A will can be valid without notarization but is typically made self-proving by a notarized affidavit signed by the witnesses, which spares them a court appearance later.
Estate Planning Document Notarization by city
Related services
- Wills and trusts — Self-proving affidavits, trust signings, certifications of trust and the deeds that fund them.
- Power of attorney — Financial and health care powers of attorney, notarized where the signer is, with the witnesses Arizona requires.
- Hospital and assisted-living visits — Bedside notarizations at hospitals, rehab units, assisted living and memory care, usually the same day.