Can a Florida Notary Certify a Copy?

Published 2026-08-22 · Updated 2026-08-22 · Florida Law

What Florida allows

Under Fla. Stat. §117.05(12), a Florida notary may supervise the making of a photocopy of an original document and attest to the trueness of the copy. This is called an attested photocopy, and it is a real notarial act.

The mechanics matter. The notary must personally supervise the copying — meaning the original is presented to the notary and the copy is made under the notary's observation. A notary may not attest to a copy someone brings in already made, no matter how obviously accurate it looks.

The notary then completes a certificate stating that the copy is a true and correct copy of the original presented, dates it, signs it, and seals it.

What Florida prohibits

The same subsection carves out two categories, and they cover most of what people actually ask for:

• Vital records. Birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates. A notary may not attest to a copy of any of these. Certified copies come from the issuing vital records office, and only from there.
• Public records, where the custodian can make a copy. Court records, recorded deeds, property records, and anything else held by a government custodian who issues certified copies. If the clerk can certify it, the notary may not.

The logic is straightforward: a notary's attestation would be a lesser substitute for a certified copy from the office that holds the record. Receiving agencies know this, which is why a notarized copy of a birth certificate gets rejected even when a notary was willing to make one.

Diplomas, transcripts, and school records sit in a gray zone that depends on whether the issuing institution is a public custodian. When in doubt, the issuing institution is the safer route.

What you can actually get attested — and the alternative

Commonly and lawfully attested: passports, driver licenses, Social Security cards, immigration documents held by the individual, private contracts, wills, powers of attorney, medical records already in your possession, insurance policies, and personal correspondence. In short: documents you hold, that no government custodian is standing by to certify.

When a notary cannot help, use a copy certification by document custodian. The person who holds the original signs a sworn statement that the attached copy is a true copy of a document in their possession, and the notary notarizes that statement as a jurat. The notary is certifying the affiant's oath, not the copy — which is entirely permissible, and is what many receiving agencies will actually accept.

Before you drive anywhere: ask the receiving party what they will accept. “Notarized copy” is used loosely, and half the time what they need is a certified copy from the issuing office instead.

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