A notary at my brother in laws office notarized a civil summons when I was long and gone. I never received a copy of any complaints, or ANYTHING outside of that single white sheet of paper, and a consent order giving my wife pretty much all of my rights. I recorded EVERYTHING, including the absense of the notary, on my phone. As a spoiler, I easily won the case…
I filed a BAR grievance on the lawyer, and a NCSOS complaint against the notary fraud of the notary. Yesterday, I got a call from a special agent, and he said that the Notary said that she notarized the document for the lawyer as a copy, or something of the sort… It didnt make sense. he said it was not criminal, but she would face adminstrative action.
The thing is, I’ve did my research and what she did was provide a stamp basically stating that I was present, and took an oath/affirmation that I received all documents, and that I was more than informed of what the documents were intended for.
Am I right when I say that a return of service, served by a third party (My brother in law), must have the acceptance notarized in the presence of the principle? And am I right when I say that that notary stamp was the “proof” they used to validate that they had properly served me?
Proper service of a complaint on a defendant must be done by either (1) sheriff’s deputy, (2) certified/registered mail in which the defendant signs for it at the post office, or (3) the defendant signing an acceptance of service with his or her signature notarized.
A civil summons does not need to be notarized. The defendant does not sign the civil summons acknowledging receipt.
Ordinarily your signature in front of a notary with the notary’s seal on a document means that you are the person that you say you are and that you are the person that signed the document.
Anna Ayscue
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest
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