What To Do When A Customer Doesn't Know What Type of Notarization They Need

I’m a new Notary, so I’m a little unsure. It is my understanding that in CA we cannot tell the customer which type of notarization they need for their document. I had a customer ask me to notarize his affirmation of he and his wife’s passport copies. He told me that it was an acknowledgment. I explained to him the difference of the acknowledgment & Jurat. Although I believed he needed a Jurat I completed the acknowledgment form. Is this okay? I also had another customer tell me that since he wasn’t sure about the acknowledgment vs Jurat (after I explained the difference) he wanted both. Is this okay? Both an acknowledgment & Jurat for the same document?

You are correct – the customer must choose the type of notarization. Look to at the document to see if it has notarial wording…that should give you a clue as to which type of notarization. If your customer chooses an ACK, that is the certificate you use. Affidavits are what need jurats per government code 8202 (b) of the CA handbook. The other customer who wanted both must choose ONE or the other.