This blog aims to explain the differences between jurats and acknowledgments, helping clients make the best choice for legal documents. Jurats are official notarial acts where the signer swears the content of a document is truthful to the best of their knowledge. They are used for documents like depositions and affidavits. The core of a jurat is personal appearance, oath or affirmation, and signature. On the other hand, acknowledgments are notarial acts where the signer knows they are executing the documents. They require personal appearance, identification, and signature. The notarial language for an acknowledgment may read "On this date, before me, personally appeared (name of the signer), who proved to me based on satisfactory evidence to be the person whose name is subscribed to the within the instrument and acknowledged."