Notarization
A notary public's certification that signatures on a document are authentic. Required for prenups in Minnesota and Louisiana; recommended everywhere; not legally required in most states.
Notarization is required for prenups in only a few states — most notably Minnesota (along with two witnesses) and Louisiana (which requires an authentic act before a notary and two witnesses as part of its civil-law framework). In other states, notarization is not legally required but is universally recommended for evidentiary purposes: notarized signatures are presumed authentic, which removes one possible avenue of challenge later.
New York's "acknowledgment" requirement is technically distinct from generic notarization and uses specific certificate language; see the acknowledgment entry.
Related terms
- Acknowledgment — A notarial formality required for New York prenups: the agreement must be signed in front of a notary public with specific certificate language, same as recording a deed.
- Procedural Defects — Failures to comply with formal signing requirements — notarization, witnesses, acknowledgment, written-only rules. State-specific and often fatal.
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