Do You Need To Notarize A Puerto Rican Document?

– Notaries in Puerto Rico and in Florida are different.

In Florida, a Notary can be any person who is 18 years old and resides in Florida. On the other hand, in Puerto Rico to be a Notary you must first be a licensed attorney.  

Many Puerto Ricans have to notarize legal documents, but the notarization of a legal document must comply with the rules in Puerto Rico. In many occasions, a Notary from Florida doesn’t know or can’t comply because he or she is not an attorney or does not know the law.

If you do not follow the correct process the document might not be valid in Puerto Rico. Many times, as an attorney from Puerto Rico, I found myself explaining to clients why the document they brought from the United States was not valid, resulting in it needing to be completely re-done incurring additional expenses for the client.  

An example of a similar situation is a Power of Attorney. In Puerto Rico a Power of Attorney can only be done by an attorney. In addition, the process of notarization is different from Florida. The Power of Attorney has to comply with specific personal information of the parties involved and if it involves properties it must be described as it is described in the Property Registry.

Additionally, the witnesses needed cannot be family members of the client or attorney, also, they cannot be employees of the attorney. These are not the only requirements needed.Depending on the legal document needed there are many other requirements. If the requirements are not complied with, your document may not be valid in Puerto Rico and you might have to incur additional expenses.