The history of notaries can be traced back to the days of ancient Egypt. At that time, a notary acted as a scribe whose duties included transcribing state papers, supply magistrates with necessary legal forms, and recording public proceedings. As history progressed, notaries became a staple in most legal systems as those who wrote legal documents and public documents. As a result of writing all these documents, the authority of the notary public increased. However, as a new age dawned with a largely literate populace, the need for notary to write legal documents has dramatically decreased. Despite this fact, the authority gained by notaries in the past has continued into the present allowing notaries to validate legal documents. Though the role of a notary is much more extensive in many countries around the world, the US notary continues to hold an important position in the legal system.
Although the notary has enjoyed a long and important history, the real question becomes: why are notaries still useful in the American legal system today. It may appear that a notary is simply another person to pay when signing an important document. However, notaries today serve an important purpose in our society. The notary profession acts as the universal unbiased third party to ensure that legal documents are prepared and signed correctly. This important because, in a world of cheats, scammers, and crooks looking to take advantage of the next sucker who walks by, having an unbiased third party check the identities of each signing party adds an extra layer of protection to a very important transaction. The notary carries the authority of authorizing legal documents and it is this authority that makes the notary special and important. Each state regulates notaries within the state and therefore has control over who has the power to authorize legal documents. This control insures uniformity and honesty in each and every document signing. Notaries offer a way to regulate and double check legal documents to ensure validity and uniformity.
The notary profession may seem useless at first glance, but upon further inspection it is clear that notaries provide a valuable service in the legal system today. While much of their widespread authority has been stripped away, they still maintain the ability and responsibility to authorize legal documents. This includes checking the identity of each signing party to guard against potential fraud. With important documents such as loans and mortgages, an added layer of security puts people at ease. This added control makes the notary profession an important part of the legal system today.
