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San Diego Estate Planning & Trust Document Notarization
When it comes to notarizing your estate plan, choosing SD Signings means choosing a great experience at the signing table. We are a streamlined, efficient, and precise team with thousands of transactions under our belt. You can depend on our quality and accuracy. Choose SD Signings to coordinate your documents and feel confident that your notary transaction was handled with care.
A notary service for your trust documents
SD Signings can work directly with you or your law firm to notarize your living trust, trust agreement, or other trust documents. Our team is highly skilled in the notarization of these items.
5 ways to Streamline Estate Plans when signing with the Notary
We understand the value of time for you and/or your clients. When it comes meeting with a notary, we have developed efficient methods to make the process swift. If your clients have already read through the documents and are fully prepared, we offer Streamlined Estate plans that can be completed in 15 minutes or less.
1. Opt for a Trusted and Experienced Notary
By utilizing an experienced and dependable notary, you can be assured that they are fully prepared for your estate plan signing even before it begins. The notary will be familiar with the documents involved and how to handle them properly. Working with the same reliable notary repeatedly, you can form a two-person team and streamline your established system quickly. The notary can also serve as a second pair of eyes to ensure that all documents are properly executed and nothing is overlooked. By having a reliable and experienced notary, you can increase efficiency while unintentionally employing a quality control agent for each document signing. Life becomes easier with the potential to save approximately 30 minutes.
2. Provide Your Notary with Document Names in Advance
Having more information before starting the notarization process can greatly benefit the notary. For instance, an estate planning attorney can save the notary time by providing the documents or a list of document names in advance. This way, the notary can prepare acknowledgments, jurats, journal entries, and even invoices ahead of time. At the signing table, the notary will only need to sign, stamp, and attach the certificate, which should take about 10 seconds per document instead of multiple minutes. This will not only save time but also help the notary feel prepared and relaxed, allowing them to assist with organization and double-checking. This can save approximately 1-3 minutes per notarized document.
3. Pre-Fill Notary Name in Acknowledgments (or Jurats) for Efficiency
Many law firms and estate planning attorneys have discovered that including pre-filled notary acknowledgments (or jurats) in their document drafting process is more efficient. These notary certificates are attached to the back of documents such as trusts or powers of attorney and are completed in advance with the appearance date, notary commission name, and signer’s names. During the signing ceremony, the notary only needs to sign and stamp the document, saving time and reducing the likelihood of errors. Alternatively, the notary may have to fill out their own notarial certificates after each document, which is more time-consuming. By providing pre-filled acknowledgments, you can save time and ensure accuracy before the signing even takes place. Save approximately 1-3 minutes per notarized document.
4. Ensure Signers Understand Documents and Address Clients' Questions Prior to Meeting
To ensure that signers are fully prepared for the notary appointment, many attorneys have automated a system by sending the documents to clients in advance, allowing plenty of time for review. Sending an additional email prior to the notary appointment can address specific areas within the documents that may typically provoke questions or require clarity at the conference table. Explaining these areas in advance will eliminate any unease or uncertainty during the appointment and minimize the possibility of rushed last-minute corrections that can lead to errors. Establishing a system that builds confidence for your clients in advance will result in swift signers and save approximately 15-60 minutes.
5. Follow Your Perfected Estate Plan Signing Routine for a Smooth Process
You and your notary have perfected the signing routine! The classical music is playing softly at volume 2, the fancy blue pens are laid out perfectly uniform in the center of the table, and the thermostat is set at a comfortable 72 degrees. Your clients enter the room refreshed, and like a beautiful symphony, the papers are passed from person to person with perfect harmony. Everyone is personable, laughter is shared, and the perfect estate plan ceremony is being conducted. You are the conductor! Your reputation for being exceptional grows, and your business flourishes. You’ve done it! Your estate plan is finished within your perfect parameters!
Common Estate Planning Documents That Require Notarization
The “Trust” is a fiduciary arrangement that allows a third party, or trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary or beneficiaries.
A “Living Trust” is a written legal document that partially substitutes for a will. The State Bar of California describes a “Living Trust” (sometimes called an “inter vivos” or “revocable” trust) as follows: “With a living trust, your assets (your home, bank accounts, and stocks, for example) are put into the trust, administered for your benefit during your lifetime, and then transferred to your beneficiaries when you die.”
The “Certification of Trust” is a document that may provide limited but essential information about your trust. It can be given to banking institutions, brokerages, escrows, or third parties while still providing privacy to other specifics of the trust itself.
The “Durable Power of Attorney“ is a document often used to designate an agent to act on someone’s behalf (principal) concerning financial matters, even after they become incapacitated. This may include matters of banking, real estate, and/or business on behalf of the principal as indicated in the document.
The “Declaration of Trust,” also known as a trust instrument, helps to create the trust.
The “Advance Health Care Directive” is a document that touches on the matters and intentions of one’s health care wishes concerning treatment, especially for end-of-life decisions. It is a directive to physicians.
The “HIPAA Waiver” or “Authorization for Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information” documents may allow someone’s healthcare information to be disclosed to a third party as indicated within the document.
The “Assignment of Personal Property” mimics its name in assigning any personal items into a trust.
A “Grant Deed to Revocable Trust” is often signed and recorded with the county to move a property within the revocable trust.
Other common trusts include irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, asset protection trusts, special needs trusts, Totten trusts, tax bypass trusts, and Bridge Trusts.
Please note that California law does not allow us to draft documents or provide legal advice as we are not attorneys. Please consult a qualified attorney for a great estate planning experience.
A “Living Trust” is a written legal document that partially substitutes for a will. The State Bar of California describes a “Living Trust” (sometimes called an “inter vivos” or “revocable” trust) as follows: “With a living trust, your assets (your home, bank accounts, and stocks, for example) are put into the trust, administered for your benefit during your lifetime, and then transferred to your beneficiaries when you die.”
The “Certification of Trust” is a document that may provide limited but essential information about your trust. It can be given to banking institutions, brokerages, escrows, or third parties while still providing privacy to other specifics of the trust itself.
The “Durable Power of Attorney“ is a document often used to designate an agent to act on someone’s behalf (principal) concerning financial matters, even after they become incapacitated. This may include matters of banking, real estate, and/or business on behalf of the principal as indicated in the document.
The “Declaration of Trust,” also known as a trust instrument, helps to create the trust.
The “Advance Health Care Directive” is a document that touches on the matters and intentions of one’s health care wishes concerning treatment, especially for end-of-life decisions. It is a directive to physicians.
The “HIPAA Waiver” or “Authorization for Use and Disclosure of Protected Health Information” documents may allow someone’s healthcare information to be disclosed to a third party as indicated within the document.
The “Assignment of Personal Property” mimics its name in assigning any personal items into a trust.
A “Grant Deed to Revocable Trust” is often signed and recorded with the county to move a property within the revocable trust.
Other common trusts include irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, asset protection trusts, special needs trusts, Totten trusts, tax bypass trusts, and Bridge Trusts.
Please note that California law does not allow us to draft documents or provide legal advice as we are not attorneys. Please consult a qualified attorney for a great estate planning experience.
Persons and Capacities in Trusts That May Need Notarization.
An individual who creates a trust is known as a “trustor” or “settlor.” Typically, they work with a qualified attorney to draft documents according to their wishes for the benefit of themselves, others, and future beneficiaries of their assets.
The person who manages the trust, specific assets, or roles within the trust is known as the “trustee.” In the case of married couples, they may act as “co-trustees” and execute full or partial powers of the trust as outlined in their specific documents.
When the initial trustees are no longer able to act due to incapacity or death, a “successor-trustee” is often appointed to manage the trust.
