Notary
Encyclopedia
A notary is a lawyer or person with legal training who is licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems.

Most common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 systems have what is called in the United States a notary public
Notary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...

, a public official who notarizes legal documents and who can also administer and take oaths and affirmations, among other tasks. In the United States, a Signing agent
Signing agent
In American law, a signing agent or courtesy signer is an agent whose function is to obtain a formal signature of an appearer to a document. In common parlance, most jurisdictions require the appearer to sign before a notary public. From this, the practice of a notary public designating themselves...

, also known as a Loan Signing Agent, is a Notary Public who specializes in notarizing mortgage/real estate documents. Although notaries public are public officials, they are not paid by the government; they may obtain income by charging fees, provide free services in connection with other employment (for example, bank employees), or may provide free services for the public good.

Most Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...

-based systems have the civil law notary
Civil law notary
Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers with the authentication power of the State...

, a legal professional working in civil law performing similar functions, but often rather more extensive. The Worshipful Company of Scriveners
Worshipful Company of Scriveners
The Worshipful Company of Scriveners of the City of London is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. It is also known as the Mysterie of Writers of the Court Letter. The Company had been responsible for setting qualifications and regulations for scrivener notaries since its foundation...

use an old English term for a notary, and are an association of notaries practicing in central London since 1373.
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