In an acknowledgment notarization in an individual capacity, who is acting on their own behalf?

In an acknowledgment notarization, the individual signer is acting on their own behalf, which is the core principle of this type of notarization. In this process, the individual presents themselves to the notary and confirms their identity and willingness to sign the document without any undue influence, ensuring that their signature is genuine and intentional. This allows for the notary to confirm that the person signing is indeed who they say they are and that they understand the document's contents and implications.

In this context, the notary public serves as a neutral witness to the signing process but is not acting on behalf of the signer. They fulfill the role of verifying and documenting the acknowledgment rather than participating in the signing itself. Similarly, an organization's representative would not be acting in an individual capacity, as they are representing the entity rather than themselves. A credible witness, while helpful in certain situations, does not directly fulfill the role of signing the document and is not acting on their own behalf in the acknowledgment process. Therefore, the individual signer stands as the only party who is acting independently in this scenario.