Did you know that the use of an official seal is not required by law it is wise that all notaries use a notary stamp when performing notarial acts? All US states require notaries to place their corresponding notary stamp on documents to finalize and authenticate the service. Without this stamp, the document is not legally notarized.
Notary stamps are inked rubber stamps that imprint state-required information usually the notary public’s name, state of commission, and date of commission expiration. These stamps are usually rectangular, but some states require a round stamp.
If you are a notary whose only authorized seal-making tool is the ink stamp, but you also own an embosser, remember never to use your embosser instead of your ink-stamp seal for official notarial acts. You may use your embosser only in combination with your official ink notary stamp seal. Remember the embosser must not be impressed over the inking seal or over the notary’s signature.
Some states mandate acceptable shapes (round or rectangular) and ranges of size for official notary seals. Notaries in Connecticut, New York, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Vermont, Maine, Michigan, and New Jersey are not required to have a seal.
Black is the most common color of ink selected by notaries when choosing stamp seal ink color. The only states with laws that require that their notaries have black ink in their seal are Florida, Oregon, Illinois, Delaware, Missouri, and Massachusetts. Utah is the only state that requires purple ink so that a black and white photocopied document can be differentiated from the original.
