A notary public is an official witness to the free and willing signing  of one or more documents by one or more people whose identity the notary  has verified. In most cases, the document is signed in the notary's  presence; in some cases, it is signed first and then brought to the  notary public by the signer, who will then acknowledge to the notary  that he or she signed the document. 

Please review all documents for the correct spelling of names, correct dates and no blank spaces. A notary may not notarize a document that is incomplete or contains blanks.

A valid form of ID must be present at the time of signing and must contain photo, signature and government issued ID #.

Not necessarily.  However, the name on the document can be no more than the name on the ID.  For example, if the name on the ID is “Jane Ellen Doe,” the document can bear the names “Jane Doe,” “Jane E. Doe,” “J.E.  Doe” but not “Jane Ellen Smith Doe ,” or “E.S.Doe.” 

• State-issued driver’s license
• State-issued identification card
• U.S. military identification card
• U.S. passport

Unaccepted forms of ID may include the following:

• Birth certificates
• Social security cards
• School identification cards
• Credit cards
• Debit cards

It depends.  A document that needs a Jurat (usually an oath or  affirmation, depending on what the issuing party has requested) must be  signed in the presence of the Notary.  Documents that require an  acknowledgment require only that the signer appear before the Notary  and acknowledge that they did indeed sign the document.