WITNESS my hand and official seal. Signature. (Seal). A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual.The certificate of acknowledgment (PDF) must be in the form set forth in California Civil Code section 1189. A complete notary acknowledgment includes the name(s) of the parties that the notary witnessed sign the document. The so-called "all-purpose" acknowledgment wording, as prescribed in. An acknowledgment is one of the most common types of notarial acts, but it often confuses Notaries. Here are 5 steps to performing an acknowledgment. Any acknowledgment completed in California must contain verbiage exactly as appears above in the notary section or a separate acknowledgment form must be. This article and video will show Notaries to fill out each part of a notarial certificate, and common mistakes to avoid. You can't use a California acknowledgement (assuming you really are in Illinois, as the automated system figured out).