Acceptable time lapse between signing a durable POA with 2 witnesses' signatures and notarizing?

BlueMoon, as to taking witnesses with you to a notary, that won't solve the problem. Notarization affirms the identity of the signatory of the document, i.e., whoever created it. It's that individual who's enabling and creating the written authorization and power for someone else to handle identified activities.

Witnesses merely do that: witness. They don't acknowledge or verify that the individual who executed the document was in fact the same individual who created it and is named at the beginning of the document.

The standard acknowledgment states that:

1. The individual named and who created the document is in fact the same person who signed.

2. This is a shortened version of the standard acknowledgment:

https://www.standardlegal.com/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.pdf

It affirms that the signer appeared before the notary. That's the only way that the document you have will be considered legitimate and properly executed.


This is a friendly warning: you're flirting with fraud if you ask or have any notary acknowledge a signature when that notary in fact apparently never did so when the document was executed.

What's the real story here? Is the person who executed the document deceased, diagnosed with dementia? Something else going on?

No, the whole purpose of the notary is to confirm the identities of the witnesses before they sign it. Banks, city halls, government centers and hospitals all have notaries. Sometimes you can find a private, professional notary.

How could you anticipate that a notary would legitimately notarize something signed not in his or her presence? No legitimate notary would participate in this.

Why wasn't it notarized during the signing?

Any notarization now, if you could find someone with no scruples, would only raise questions as to the validity of the document, something I also question.

Who prepared the POA? Was it done by a lawyer or is it a boiler plate form you found online or in a book?

If it was done by a lawyer, I would expect that it would have been properly witnessed and notarized at the time.

Is this a financial POA or for health care or both?

Was the person competent at the time it was produced? If yes, who attested to that?

I see all sorts of red flags here.

I’m thinking no. If you needed two witnesses and/or a notary and you chose 2 witnesses sans the notary I don’t think you can even take the two witnesses with you and ask the notary to verify something they didn’t witness.

The whole purpose of the notary is to validate the identities and confirm that they saw everyone sign the document. That can't be done two years later.

Call a local law office and ask what methods are available to get paperwork notarized in your state at this time if the person is still legally competent to sign. If they aren't, ask what Plan B should be.

Did u have this done by a lawyer? If so, one of his staff should be a notary and could have signed off when paperwork was signed. Or is this something off the internet. If so, may causeca problem because dates won't match. The notary has to see the person. So if in those 2 years the person has Dementia, they may no longer be able to assign a POA. If a lawyer drew it up contact him. Ask a notary. Your bank should have one.

OneBlueMoon,

You have responded to at least three of us with the same post, but you have not answered the question where did you get the POA forms from? You say they state that they need two witnesses or a notary, but are you sure that the forms are even valid in your state/province?

Is the person under the POA competent to sign new properly executed documents? If yes, then I think this is your best bet.

First contact the insurance companies, banks etc, so see what sort of documentation they need. No point in doing it over using a form that will not be accepted.

Are you looking at healthcare agreements too?

Is the originator still competent/alive? If neither, no new POA can be done legally. If the person is deceased, a POA has no value. If the person is competent (therefore alive), a new POA form should be done as needed.

State law would not, I don't think, require notarization OR two witnesses OR both, just one or the other. So this sounds like boilerplate internet language, where the obligation of the user of that boilerplate is expected to find out what the law in his or her state requires. It sounds rather like someone has discovered that in the particular state where this POA was needed, the requirement is for a notarized signature. In other words, this document is likely not legal and the OP needs to start over, with legal advice, rather than risk fraud.