In What Capacity Does Their Name Appear?

When I recently had to have a statement notarized, I remembered that my local bank had a notary public who could perform the task for me. When I called to see if she was available, she reminded me that she wasn’t testifying to the veracity of the facts in the statement I was signing. She was indicating that she knew who I was and that she saw me sign the statement that I had typed out.

When you see someone’s name on a document in some sort of official capacity, determine what responsibilities go along with that title and what the person’s actual purpose is on the document.

That will help you to correctly analyze what is in the document and reduce the chance you make incorrect inferences about the people involved in the document’s creation.