How a notarized document must look to be apostilled in Florida

Powers of attorney, affidavits, single-status affidavits, travel consent letters, contracts and corporate resolutions aren't public records. No Florida official issued them. The only Florida signature on the page is the notary's, so that's what the apostille certifies.

The state's accepted documents page is direct about it: notarized documents need a full notarial statement, in English, with the notary's original signature, stamp and seal. A stamp and a signature floating on the page aren't a notarization. The notarial certificate — the block of wording that says what the notary did, where, when and for whom — is what turns a signature into something the state can certify.

Florida law sets that wording. Section 117.05(13) of the Florida Statutes gives the forms for oaths and acknowledgments, and section 117.05(12) gives the form for attested copies. The Florida Department of State publishes the same forms on its sample notarial certificates page. A certificate doesn't have to match word for word, but it has to be "substantially" in these forms and fully completed.

Below are the statutory wordings. Pick the one that matches what the notary actually did:

• Jurat (oath or affirmation) — the signer swears or affirms the contents are true. Used for affidavits, sworn statements and single-status affidavits.
• Acknowledgment, individual capacity — the signer acknowledges signing the document for themselves. Used for powers of attorney, consent letters and most contracts.
• Acknowledgment, representative capacity — the signer acts for someone else: a company officer, trustee or attorney in fact. Used for corporate resolutions and documents signed on behalf of a business.
• Attested copy of a photocopy — the notary makes a photocopy of a document the custodian presents and certifies it's a true copy.
• Attested copy of a tangible or electronic record — the notary supervises a copy or the printing of an electronic record and attests to its trueness. The statute uses the same certificate form as the photocopy.

One note: on the state's sample page, the individual acknowledgment is shown without the physical presence / online notarization checkboxes. The current statute includes them, so use the version below.

Section 117.05(4) lists what a jurat or notarial certificate must show. Check every one of them on your document:

1. Venue — "State of Florida, County of ___," the county where the notary was when the act was performed.
2. Type of act — sworn (jurat) or acknowledged.
3. Physical presence or online notarization — one box checked.
4. The exact date of the notarization.
5. The signer's name, matching the signature.
6. Identification — "personally known" or the specific type of ID produced, such as a Florida driver license or U.S. passport.
7. The notary's official signature.
8. The notary's name typed, printed or stamped below the signature.
9. The notary's seal below or beside the signature.

The seal itself has its own rules under section 117.05(3): a rubber stamp in photographically reproducible black ink showing "Notary Public-State of Florida," the notary's name, the commission expiration date and the commission number. An embossed seal can be added, but it can't replace the stamp on a paper document.

Attested-copy certificates have no identification line, because the notary is certifying a copy rather than a signer. Everything else — venue, date, description of the document, custodian's name, signature, name and seal — must be complete.

These are the problems we catch most often when customers send us documents someone else notarized.

1. Missing venue

No "State of Florida, County of ___" at the top of the certificate, or a blank county. The venue is required, and a blank one is incomplete.

2. No physical presence or online notarization box

Older certificate templates and many generic forms from the internet don't have the checkboxes, or the notary left both empty. Florida's certificates have required them since January 1, 2020.

3. No ID type

"Produced identification" is checked, but the line for the type of ID is blank. The statute requires the specific type of identification the notary relied on.

4. Expired commission

The notary's commission had expired on the date of the notarization. The notarization is invalid, and the state will catch it.

5. Stamp off the page or illegible

The rubber stamp is cut off at the edge, smeared, stamped over text, or too faint to read the commission number and expiration date. If the state can't read it, it can't verify it.

6. Notary not commissioned in Florida

A notary from New York, Georgia or any other state may notarize perfectly — but only that state can apostille it. The same goes for an online notary commissioned in another state.

7. Foreign-language certificate

The document itself can be in Spanish, Italian or any language the receiving country wants. The notarial certificate must be in English. A bilingual certificate is fine if the English is complete.

8. "Notarized" copies of vital records and court records

A notary stamp on a photocopy of a birth certificate, marriage certificate or divorce decree is the single most common mistake we see. Florida notaries can't attest copies of vital records, documents filed in court, records recorded by the Clerk of Court, or public school records. You need a certified copy from the issuing office — see the vital records and court records guides.

9. Translator and notary are the same person

The state's FAQ is explicit: the person who translates a document cannot be the person who notarizes it.

More rejection causes, including problems that aren't about notarization, are in why Florida apostilles get rejected.

According to the state's apostille FAQ, the notary's information is compared against its notary public database: commission number, expiration date and name. If the name on the stamp doesn't match the commission, or the commission wasn't active on the date in the certificate, the document comes back.

You can run the same check before you file using the state's notary search. Look up the notary by name, confirm the commission number on the stamp matches, and confirm the notarization date falls between the commission's start and expiration dates. It takes two minutes and saves weeks.

The state does not review whether the document is well drafted or whether the foreign country will accept it. That's between you and the receiving authority. If a foreign attorney gave you a template, ask whether they need a jurat or an acknowledgment — some countries are specific about it.

If your notarized document has a defect, the fix is to notarize it again correctly. If you're outside Florida, or outside the U.S., finding a Florida notary in person isn't realistic. That's where online notarization helps.

Florida allows remote online notarization by notaries registered with the state as online notaries (see the state's remote online notary page). With our online notarization service, a Florida-commissioned online notary notarizes your document over a secure video session. We then print the notarized document with a Florida attested-copy certificate and file it for the apostille. You never ship a paper original.

• Works for signers anywhere in the U.S. or abroad, subject to identity verification (government photo ID plus identity checks).
• Good for powers of attorney, affidavits, single-status affidavits, consent letters, contracts, corporate resolutions and copy certifications of non-public documents.
• Not for vital records or court records. Those are public records and need certified copies from the issuing office.
• Price: $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee), $20 for each additional document, added to the apostille price.

The apostille itself is $220 per document, $380 for two, or $160 each for three or more, with the state fee and FedEx inside the U.S. included, in 5–7 business days. Start an order or read more about notarize and apostille.