Terms Used In Missouri Laws > Chapter 486 - Commissioners of Deeds and Notaries Public

• Acknowledgment: a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary and presents a document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmation: a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an oath and in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• certificate: the part of, or attachment to, a notarized document that, in the performance of the notarization, is completed by the notary, bears the notary's official signature and seal, and states the date, venue, and facts attested by the notary in the particular notarial act. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Commission: both the granting of authority to perform notarial acts and the written evidence of the granting of authority to perform such acts. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Copy certification: a notarial act in which a notary:

  (a) Locates or is presented with a paper or an electronic document that is not a vital record, a public record, or a recorded document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• County: any of the several counties of this state or the City of St. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• County clerk: any of the several county clerks of this state or the clerk of the circuit court in the City of St. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Credible witness: an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath or affirmation from the notary to vouch for that individual's identity. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Dower: A widow
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• journal: a permanently bound book to create and preserve a chronological record of notarizations that is maintained by the notary public who performed the same notarizations. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Jurat: a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary and presents a document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• notarization: any official act of certification, attestation, or administration that a notary public is empowered to perform pursuant to this chapter. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• notary: any person commissioned to perform notarial acts pursuant to this chapter. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Oath: a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an affirmation and in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Official signature: a handwritten signature made by a notary that uses the exact name appearing in the notary's commission and is signed with the intent to perform a notarial act. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• personally knows: familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions with that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable uncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Regular place of work or business: a stationary office or workspace where one spends all or some of one's working or business hours. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Requester of fact: a person who asks the notary public to perform a copy certification. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Satisfactory evidence: evidence of identification of an individual based on:

  (a) At least one current document issued by a federal, state, or tribal government in a language understood by the notary and bearing the photographic image of the individual's face and signature and a physical description of the individual, or a properly stamped passport without a physical description. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• Secretary: the secretary of state for the state of Missouri. See Missouri Laws 486.600
• Signature witnessing: a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place:

  (a) Appears in person before the notary and presents a document. See Missouri Laws 486.600

• State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• United States: includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• voter: is used in the laws of this state it shall mean registered voter, or legal voter. See Missouri Laws 1.035