Notary
person licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents
A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems.
A notary, while a legal professional, is distinct from an advocate in that they do not represent the person who engages their services, or act in contentious matters.
Overview
Documents are notarized to deter fraud and to ensure they are properly executed. An impartial witness (the notary) identifies signers to screen out impostors and to make sure they have entered into agreements knowingly and willingly. Loan documents including deeds, affidavits, contracts, and powers of attorney are very common documents needing notarization.
Code of Hammurabi Law 122 (c. 1755–1750 BCE) stipulated that a depositor of gold, silver, or other chattel/movable property for safekeeping must present all articles and a signed contract of bailment to a notary before depositing the articles with a banker, and Law 123 stipulated that a banker was discharged of any liability from a contract of bailment if the notary denied the existence of the contract. Law 124 stipulated that a depositor with a notarized contract of bailment was entitled to redeem the value of their deposit.
To "notarize" a document or event is not a term of art, and its definition varies from place to place; but it generally means the performance by a notary of a series of possible steps, which may include the following (not an exhaustive list):
Common law vs.
The public source identifies “Notary” as person licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Notary, person and licensed.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Notary”, the useful work is to connect “person licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q189010. The Library of Congress control number is sh85092781. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1755 and 1750.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Notary”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Notary primary sources, Notary archive and Notary research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Notary”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Notary” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.