Notarized

When something is notarized, a notary has done their part and left proof of it, typically a stamp or seal, their signature, and a short certificate. In the everyday US and UK sense, notarizing does not mean the notary approves of what the document says or gives legal advice about it. They are confirming that the right person signed, willingly, and that the signing genuinely took place. This is what gives banks, courts, and foreign authorities confidence in the paper in front of them.

The weight of "notarized" shifts with the notary behind it, so the same word implies different things by region. In the US, notarization is usually an acknowledgment or a jurat: identity checked, signature witnessed, seal applied, nothing more. In the UK it works similarly and is most often needed for documents going overseas. In much of the EU, a document notarized by a civil-law notary becomes an authentic instrument with stronger evidential value and direct enforceability, which is a far higher bar than the common-law version. Because of these differences, a document notarized in one country often needs an extra step, such as an apostille, to be accepted in another.