公证文书是公证员最常用的文书。公证文书必须符合民法第1189条。在公证文书中，需要公证员公证的内容有：
- 在确定的日期和地址签字人亲自与公证员见面；
- 检查签字人的有效合法证件；和
- 签字人确认即将公证的文书。
公证薄需要按顺序记录包含签字人进行公证或宣誓的合法有效证件。如果有效合法身份是通过公证员认识的中间可信证人确认，那么公证簿中需要包含可信证人的签字或可信证人的有效合法身份证件，身份证件签发机构，证件序列号，和签发或过期日期。如果签字人的有效合法身份是通过两个可信证人确认后进行宣誓或公证，且两名可信证人的拥有有效合法身份证件，那么公证簿中必须包含两名可信证人的签名，身份证件种类，证件序列号，和签发或过期日期。
公证文书必须在公证员签字和盖章的同时完成。公证文书的签发受法律监管。（民法第1189(a)(1)条）
公证员对已知的虚假陈述文书进行公证，不仅会收到民事处罚和行政处罚，而且还是刑事犯罪。公证员故意公证虚假文书会处以不超过$10,000美元的民事罚款。（民法1189(a)(4)条）
公证员可以为在美国其它州或司法管辖区的文书做公证，公证员不需要确认签字人是否有权或被许可签字，无需考虑加州法律的规定。（这段翻译存疑）
任何形式的加州公证文书需要符合以下格式：
注意：公证文书不可以通过邮寄的方式交给公证员公证，公证文书的完成必须本人亲自面对公证员进行，不论签字人是否与公证员相识。同样，公证员公章和签字只可以用在包含正确文本的公证文书上。
Acknowledgment
The form most frequently completed by the notary public is the certificate of acknowledgment. The certificate of acknowledgment must be in the form set forth in Civil Code section 1189. In the certificate of acknowledgment, the notary public certifies:
- That the signer personally appeared before the notary public on the date indicated in the county indicated;
- To the identity of the signer; and
- That the signer acknowledged executing the document.
The notary public sequential journal must contain a statement that the identity of a person making the acknowledgment or taking the oath or affirmation was based on satisfactory evidence. If identity was established based on the oath of a credible witness personally known to the notary public, then the journal must contain the signature of the credible witness or the type of identifying document used to establish the witness’ identity, the governmental agency issuing the document, the serial or identifying number of the document, and the date of issue or expiration of the document. If the identity of the person making the acknowledgment or taking the oath or affirmation was established by the oaths or affirmations of two credible witnesses whose identities are proven to the notary public upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence, then the journal must contain the signatures of the credible witnesses and the type of identifying documents, the identifying numbers of the documents and the dates of issuance or expiration of the documents presented by the witnesses to establish their identities.
The certificate of acknowledgment must be filed completely out at the time the notary public’s signature and seal are affixed. The certificate of acknowledgment is executed under penalty of perjury. (Civil Code section 1189(a)(1))
The completion of a certificate of acknowledgment that contains statements that the notary public knows to be false not only may cause the notary public to be liable for civil penalties and administrative action, but is also a criminal offense. The notary public who willfully states as true any material fact known to be false is subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000. (Civil Code section 1189(a)(4))
A notary public may complete a certificate of acknowledgment required in another state or jurisdiction of the United States on documents to be filed in that other state or jurisdiction, provided the form does not require the notary public to determine or certify that the signer holds a particular representative capacity or to make other determinations and certifications not allowed by California law.
Any certificate of acknowledgment taken within this state shall be in the following form:
Note: An acknowledgment cannot be affixed to a document mailed or otherwise delivered to a notary public whereby the signer did not personally appear before the notary public, even if the signer is known by the notary public. Also, a notary public seal and signature cannot be affixed to a document without the correct notarial wording.
