Yes. A New Jersey attorney can notarize documents without a stamp, without a seal, and without holding a separate notary public commission. The authority comes directly from the law license under N.J.S.A. 46:14-6.1, which lists “attorney-at-law” among the officers authorized to take acknowledgments and proofs.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 46-14-6.1 – Officers Authorized to Take Acknowledgments An attorney acting under that authority is not a “notary public” in the statutory sense, so the stamp rule that governs commissioned notaries simply does not apply.
That is the clean legal answer. The practical answer has a few more wrinkles, because banks, out-of-state title companies, and county clerks often expect to see a stamp regardless of what the statute says.
What Replaces the Stamp on the Document
When an attorney notarizes under their license rather than a commission, the notarial certificate carries written information in place of a physical stamp. The attorney signs where a notary would sign, prints or types their full name beneath the signature, and adds a designation identifying them as a New Jersey attorney. The usual wording is “An Attorney at Law of the State of New Jersey,” with small variations across the bar.
That designation performs the same function a stamp performs for a commissioned notary. It tells anyone reviewing the document that the signer had legal authority to perform the act. No commission number appears, and no expiration date appears, because neither exists. The rest of the certificate still needs to be complete: a venue line naming the county, the date, and language fitting the type of act, whether that is an acknowledgment or a jurat.
Where the Authority Comes From
N.J.S.A. 46:14-6.1 places attorneys-at-law first on the list of officers authorized to take acknowledgments, ahead of commissioned notaries, judges, and other officials.1Justia Law. New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 46-14-6.1 – Officers Authorized to Take Acknowledgments The stamp requirement sits in a different statute, N.J.S.A. 52:7-10.5, and applies to “a notary public,” requiring a commission expiration date and the title “Notary Public, State of New Jersey.”2NJ Legislature. P.L. 2021, c.179 – New Jersey Law on Notarial Acts An attorney who is not holding a commission has nothing for that provision to attach to. The 2021 overhaul of New Jersey’s notarial laws preserved this attorney authority explicitly.
An attorney who also holds a notary commission is a different story. When acting in that capacity, they are a notary public and must use the stamp.
When an Attorney Cannot Notarize
The authority is not unlimited. New Jersey law disqualifies any notarial officer from performing a notarial act on a document in which the officer, or the officer’s spouse or civil union partner, is a party or has a direct beneficial interest. A notarization that violates this rule is voidable.2NJ Legislature. P.L. 2021, c.179 – New Jersey Law on Notarial Acts “Notarial officer” covers attorneys acting under their law license, not only commissioned notaries.
In practice, this means you cannot notarize a contract you are party to, a deed transferring property to yourself, or a document that benefits your spouse financially. The problem comes up most often in small firms where one attorney drafts, negotiates, and handles every piece of a transaction. The consequences are serious. A voidable notarization can unravel the document underneath it, which can derail a real estate closing, a loan, or a court filing.
If your fee is contingent on a deal closing, notarizing another party’s signature on that deal creates at least the appearance of a direct beneficial interest. The safer move is to let another attorney or notary handle it whenever your financial stake goes beyond an ordinary legal fee.
Fee Limits
New Jersey caps what any notarial officer can charge, and attorneys are included. The limits are $2.50 for a standard notarial act such as an oath, affidavit, or acknowledgment; $15.00 for acknowledgments in a real estate transfer regardless of how many acts occur in the transaction; and $25.00 per transaction for real estate financing documents.3Legal Information Institute. New Jersey Admin Code 17:50-1.18 – Fees for Notarial Services Legal fees for preparing or reviewing the underlying document are separate and are not subject to these caps.
Record-Keeping
The 2021 law made journal-keeping mandatory for commissioned notaries, with details like date, type of act, signer’s name, and identification method required for every notarization.2NJ Legislature. P.L. 2021, c.179 – New Jersey Law on Notarial Acts Attorneys received a carve-out. An attorney admitted to practice in New Jersey can keep notarization records within the client files already maintained for the law practice, rather than in a separate journal.4NJ Legislature. P.L. 2021, c.179 – New Jersey Law on Notarial Acts The same exception extends to employees of licensed attorneys and to title insurance company agents.
That does not mean skipping the record. If a notarization is later challenged, the attorney needs to show who appeared, how identity was verified, and when. Note it in the file.
The Out-of-State Problem
Inside New Jersey, an attorney notarization without a stamp is fully valid. The friction starts when the document crosses a state line. Banks, title companies, and government offices in other states train their staff to look for a stamp with a commission number and expiration date. When those are missing, the file sits.
The legal framework actually favors you. Interstate recognition rules generally defer to the law of the state where the notarization was performed. If it complied with New Jersey law, other states should accept it. “Should” and “will” are different words on a deadline, so a few habits help:
- Call ahead. Confirm with the receiving party that they will accept a New Jersey attorney notarization without a stamp before you send the document.
- Include a citation. A short note referencing N.J.S.A. 46:14-6.1 lets the reviewer read the authority themselves. Pushback usually drops once they do.
- Use a stamp when you have one. Many New Jersey attorneys also hold a notary commission for exactly this reason. If the document is going out of state, the stamp avoids the conversation.
Documents Headed Abroad
International use adds an authentication step. For countries that are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, the New Jersey Secretary of the Treasury can issue an apostille certifying the notarial act, handled through the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services.5State of NJ. NJ Treasury – Apostilles An attorney’s notarial act can support an apostille request, provided the issuing authority can verify the attorney’s signature and status.6National Association of Secretaries of State. The Notary Public Administrators Handbook on Apostilles and Authentications For countries outside the Convention, the document typically has to pass through the U.S. Department of State and then the destination country’s embassy or consulate. If you know a document is heading abroad, using a commissioned notary stamp tends to move things along, because apostille staff see commissioned notaries far more often than attorney notarizations.