Since the Notary Public did not actually witness your signature on the agreement, it can be deemed void and will need to be renegotiated.
Here is the NC Statute on the penalties the Notary faces:
"Part 8. Enforcement, Sanctions, and Remedies.
The good news is the agreement is not legally binding. In the future NEVER sign anything unless your lawyer is sitting there with you and tells you to sign it.
The notary may face sanctions but that is not your problem, you didn’t break the law, they did.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
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OK, here’s my situation. My STBX has control of everything right now, the home, both vehicles, and all assets. We separated in Dec 07 and I am currently renting from my brother until distribution is settled. About 2 months ago I started getting a little desperate. Keep in mind that he has my car and I had to buy a new one. We talked about distribution so I could get my other car back and sell it. So we struck an agreement in his favor where he keeps just about everything, and I still pay a bunch of debt. During this time I had a hard time getting in touch with my lawyer for her advice, so I went ahead and signed the agreement. However, I signed it at the home, NOT in front of a notary. He had it notarized at work…he is a CPA. Well, when I told my lawyer about this she got very upset because we are still in the middle of a horrible custody battle and she wanted me to use the assets as “leverage”. So I had to tell him that the agreement was off. Of course this ticked him off and honestly I don’t blame him. The one question I have is how much trouble he or the notary that notarized it can get in since I wasn’t there when it was notarized? What is the worst that can happen? I don’t want him or her to get in trouble, but I have a feeling my lawyer will bring it up.