Acknowledgments in Florida
Acknowledgments
Generally
FS 695.01 requires a deed or mortgage be recorded to be effectual against third parties; and FS 695.03 requires a deed, mortgage, or other document to be acknowledged to be recorded. Those statutory sections provide as follows: "[n]o conveyance, transfer, or mortgage of real property . . . shall be good and effectual in law . . . against creditors or subsequent purchasers . . . unless the same shall be recorded according to law." Fla.Stat. 695.01. "To entitle any instrument concerning real property to be recorded, the execution must be acknowledged by the party executing it [and] authenticated by a . . . notary public who affixes her or his official seal." Fla.Stat. 695.03. A jurat is not an acknowledgment so a deed or mortgage is not legally recorded if it only contains a jurat but does not have an acknowledgment. Therefore, if a recorded deed or mortgage only contains a jurat it will not provide constructive notice to third parties.
Acknowledgments In Foreign Country
Documents can be signed in a foreign country before a notary of that Country as long as the Notary has a Seal and the Seal indicates that the person is a notary with words such as Notare, Notar or similar language. If the acknowledgment is done in a foreign language, the acknowledgement must be translated and the translation must say 3 things: (1) that the signor appeared before the notary; (2) that the signor acknowledged his signature on the document; and (3) that the signor provided ID or was personally known to the Notary. The Translation is recorded with the original document. So, while the US Embassy is the safest route to take, with the above, an acknowledgment before a foreign notary is acceptable.
Acknowledgment Forms
