Lawyer Notary $13.28 Witness to Agreements and Contracts

Witnessing of a Signature - Agreements, Contracts and Releases

Except for Wills and Powers of Attorney, most if not all agreements and contracts DO NOT require a witness or a notary public to notarize them in order for them to be considered valid or legally binding in the court of law. In other words, most contracts, but not all, do not require notarization to be enforceable. However, when the parties want the contract to be readily recognized by institutions such as banks and government agencies who may have good reasons to question the authenticity of the contract or the identities of the parties, then one of the ways to avoid attracting suspicions and causing delays for recognition and approval by the institutions is to have the contract/agreement notarized by a notary public who is obliged to confirm the parties' identities as well as swearing the parties under oaths in respect to terms of the Agreement. It is important to note that a notary public can bind the parties to the Agreement but that does not mean that the notarization can prevent one party from breaching such an Agreement at his or her own will.