Common Questions

Simple answer: No we don’t.

Long answer (WHY?):

We are a two person operation. My wife answers the phone and schedules my appointments, I do the notarizations. It’s just the two of us. We don’t have another person on staff.

The serious answer:
If I had other employees, they would not be the best for witnessing the document as this could be seen as a conflict of interest. A court or attorney might argue that the witnesses were invalid because they may have signed for fear of maintaining their employment with me. Not to mention that keeping two more people on the payroll 9 hours a day wouldn’t be covered by our current fees. We would have to increase our fees substantially and would not be competitive in the market.

The half-joking answer:
In another scenario, I could call up two of my friends and tell them that I have a notarization that I need them to witness for me. They could drop whatever they’re doing, take time out of their day, drive across town and witness. I would then pay them about $10 each out of my travel fee, and by the time I’ve covered expenses such as gas, taxes, advertising and other business costs, I’ve spent an hour to make less than $5 which is below minimum wage. If another person paid me that amount it would be illegal. Now my two friends who make more than $10 an hour at their real jobs start getting tired of me asking them to witness all the time and it puts a strain on our friendship. As of 2022 I’m pushing 50 years old. I don’t really have any friends under about 45 years old. We’re not college kids struggling for beer money 🙂 There are some notaries out there that are in that age range and they might be able to find some people that would be willing to “come with”.

Birthdays, Christmases come and go as my pool of friends (and gifts received) shrinks because every time their phone rings in the middle of the day with my number it’s “I’m not answering that. It’s Kyle needing me to be a witness again”. Now I have no friends and spiral into a deep, crippling depression and end up closing down my notary business.

That’s not really the direction I want to go with my business or my friendships which is why we don’t provide witnesses.

So Where Should I Get Witnesses?

Ask neighbors, friends or distantly related family members who are not directly related and would receive no benefit from having the document signed.

For example: If your wife’s mother is having a will notarized and your wife will inherit property, you, the husband, would benefit by having the will notarized as you and your wife would receive benefit (property and/or items from the estate). Therefore you would not be a good candidate for being a witness.

If you can’t find friends or neighbors, ANYONE who has proper ID and is of legal age and mental capacity can serve as a witness. Other visitors at the hospital or nursing home can witness. It’s awkward to ask, but at least 50% of the people you ask are willing to help. Some people are afraid of getting involved, so don’t take it personally if they deny.

“I’ll just get one of the nurses to witness…”

I have worked with every hospital and nursing facility in Hamilton County. NONE of them will allow any of their staff members to witness a document signing. It is against their policy. Occasionally you might find an employee who will agree to witness because they may not be familiar with the facility’s policy, but please don’t count on this. Make sure that if your document needs witnesses that you provide your own.