New Jersey Notary Requirements
ACCEPTABLE IDs FOR A NEW JERSEY NOTARY
N.J.S.A. § 52:7-10.8
N.J.S.A. § 52:7-10.8(f) (identification of individual). f.(1) A notarial officer has personal knowledge of the identity of an individual appearing before the notarial officer if the individual is personally known to the notarial officer through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the individual has the identity claimed. (2) A notarial officer has satisfactory evidence of the identity of an individual appearing before the notarial officer if the notarial officer can identify the individual by means of: (a) A passport, driver's license, or government-issued, non-driver identification card, which is current or expired not more than three years before the performance of the notarial act; or (b) Another form of government-issued identification, which is current or expired not more than three years before the performance of the notarial act, and which: (i) contains the individual's signature or a photograph of the individual's face; and (ii) is satisfactory to the notarial officer; or (c) A verification of oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing before the notarial officer or using communication technology to appear before the notarial officer pursuant to section 19 of P.L.2021, c.179 (C.52:7-10.10) and personally known to the notarial officer or whom the notarial officer can identify on the basis of a passport, driver's license, or government-issued, non-driver identification card, which is current or expired not more than three years before the performance of the notarial act.
STATE IDs
New Jersey requires a state-issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
Documents qualifying under this standard remain subject to your judgment as the notary that the identification presented is satisfactory.
*Acceptable only if the License to Carry/CHL card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented; some states' License to Carry/CHLs do not.
**New Jersey does not issue this credential.
***Acceptable only if the Voter ID card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented; some states' Voter IDs do not.
FEDERAL IDs
New Jersey requires a federally issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
Documents qualifying under this standard remain subject to your judgment as the notary that the identification presented is satisfactory.
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT IDs
New Jersey requires a government-issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
*Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.
INMATE IDs
New Jersey accepts state, county, and federal inmate identification as listed below.
*Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.
FOREIGN IDs
New Jersey requires a foreign-government issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
Documents qualifying under this standard remain subject to your judgment as the notary that the identification presented is satisfactory.
CREDIBLE WITNESS(ES)
New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 52:7-28 et seq., Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts) accepts a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness (known to the notary or identified by ID); the oath is the act.
PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
*Personal knowledge permitted
OTHER IDs
*Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.
Journal Rules
N.J.S.A. 52:7-10.18; N.J.A.C. 17:50-1.11
N.J.A.C. 17:50-1.11 (Journal requirement): (a) A notary public shall maintain a journal of all notarial acts performed. 1. The journal may be created and maintained on a tangible medium or in an electronic format. 2. A notary public shall maintain only one journal at a time to chronicle all notarial acts, whether those notarial acts are performed regarding tangible or electronic records. 3. If the journal is maintained on a tangible medium, it shall be a permanent, bound register with consecutively numbered lines and consecutively numbered pages. 4. If the journal is maintained in an electronic format, it shall be in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format. (b) For each notarial act, the notary public shall record in the journal: 1. The date and time of the notarial act; 2. The type of notarial act, including, but not limited to, the taking of an acknowledgment, the taking of a proof of a deed, the administration of an oath, or the taking of an affidavit; 3. The name and address of each person for whom the notarial act is performed; 4. If the identity of the individual is based on personal knowledge, a statement to that effect; 5. If the identity of the individual is based on satisfactory evidence, a brief description of the method of identification and the identification credential presented, if any, including, if applicable, the type, date of issuance, and date of expiration of an identification document, or the name and signature of any identifying witness and, if applicable, the type, date of issuance, and date of expiration of a document identifying the witness; and 6. An itemized list of all fees charged for the notarial act. (c) If a notary public's journal is lost or stolen, the notary public shall notify the State Treasurer within 10 days of the loss or theft. (d) The notary public shall: 1. Retain the journal for 10 years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in the journal; or 2. Write to the State Treasurer for instructions on how to send or transmit the journal securely to the Division. (e) On resignation from, or the revocation or suspension of, a notary public's commission, the notary public shall either: 1. Retain the journal for 10 years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in the journal; or 2. Write to the State Treasurer for instructions on how to send or transmit the journal securely to the Division. (f) On the death or adjudication of incompetency of a current or former notary public, the notary public's personal representative or guardian or any other person knowingly in possession of the journal shall, within 45 days, write to the State Treasurer for instructions on how to send or transmit the journal securely. (g) In lieu of maintaining a journal, a notary public who is an attorney-at-law admitted to practice in this State, who is employed by an attorney-at-law, or who is employed by, or acting as an agent for, a title insurance company licensed to do business in this State pursuant to P.L. 2001, c. 210 (N.J.S.A. 17:22A-26 et seq.), may maintain a record of notarial acts in the form of files regularly maintained for the attorney's law practice or the title insurance company's business activities, as the case may be.
- Journal required?
- ✓*
- Bound paper journal required?
- ✗**
- Wet signature required in journal?
- ✗
- Wet thumbprint required?
- ✗
- Digital journal allowed?
- ✓
- Journal format
- Either
- Retention — required
- 10 yr
- Retention period
- After the last journal entry
JOURNAL ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Required
Prohibited
None
*In lieu of a journal, a notary who is an attorney-at-law admitted in New Jersey, who is employed by such an attorney, or who is employed by or acting as an agent for a licensed title insurance company may instead maintain a record of notarial acts in the files regularly kept for that law practice or title business. N.J.S.A. 52:7-10.18(g).
**You may keep your journal on paper or electronically. If you choose paper, it must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages.
Notary Fees
N.J.A.C. 17:50-1.18
N.J.A.C. 17:50-1.18 (Fees for notarial services), authorized by N.J.S.A. 52:7-19 / R.S. 22A (fee 'as shall be fixed by the State Treasurer by regulation'): $2.50 for oaths/affirmations, taking affidavits, proofs of a deed, and taking an acknowledgment.
- Acknowledgment (max)
- $2.50
- Jurat (max)
- $2.50
- Additional signature (max)
- $2.50
- Travel fee capped?
- ✗
- Travel fee disclosure required?
- ✗
Notarial Acts
Certificate Language
Dated: {date}
Bracketed {tokens} are placeholders the app fills in (venue, names, dates) when it generates a certificate.
Source Documents
Full statute and (where published) the commissioning authority’s notary handbook. Download links appear here once the documents table is populated.
📄 Full notary statute (coming soon) 📄 Notary handbook (coming soon)
