Florida Notary Seal Requirements

Published 2026-08-01 · Updated 2026-08-01 · Becoming a Notary

What the statute requires on the seal

Fla. Stat. §117.05(3)(a) sets out what a Florida notary's rubber stamp seal must contain:

• The words “Notary Public-State of Florida”
• The name of the notary public
• The date of expiration of the commission
• The commission number

The statute also specifies the medium: the rubber stamp seal must be affixed to the notarized paper document in photographically reproducible black ink. That requirement exists because recorded instruments are microfilmed and scanned — blue, purple, or light gray ink can vanish in reproduction, and a county recorder can refuse an instrument whose seal does not reproduce.

Your name on the seal must match the name on your commission exactly. If your commission reads “Robert J. Smith,” the seal reads “Robert J. Smith” — not “Bob Smith.”

Practical rules that keep documents accepted

• Never stamp over printed text or a signature. If the seal obscures text, the recorder can reject the instrument. Find white space near the certificate. If there is none, that is a document-design problem to raise with the closer, not something to improvise around.
• Never lend your seal. Your seal is your commission. An employer has no right to it, and a notarization made with your seal is your legal responsibility regardless of who pressed it.
• Order a new seal at each renewal. Your commission number and expiration date change. A seal showing an expired date is a defective notarization even if your commission is current.
• Keep it under your control. Locked drawer, not the shared supply cabinet. If a seal is lost or stolen, notify the Department of State and your bonding agency in writing.
• Embossers are supplemental, not sufficient. A raised embossed seal alone does not reproduce photographically. Use the ink stamp; add the embosser only in addition if you want to.

The seal is not the notarization

New notaries treat the stamp as the act. It is not. The seal is one required element of a notarial certificate that also has to state the venue, the type of notarial act, whether the signer appeared physically or by audio-video, the exact date, the signer's name, the method of identification, and the notary's signature and printed name — all under §117.05(4).

A perfectly stamped page with a blank certificate is a defective notarization. A completed certificate with a slightly crooked seal is a good one. Fill the certificate first, stamp last, and check it before you close the folder.

For online notarizations, the electronic signature and seal are governed separately — they must be attached to or logically associated with the electronic record, and RON acts carry the additional journal and recording requirements in §117.245.

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