29 DE Code § 4321. (2021)
2021 Delaware Code|Title 29 - State Government|Chapter 43. Notaries Public|Subchapter II. Notarial Acts|§ 4321. Definitions.

§ 4321. Definitions. As used in this chapter:  (1) “Acknowledgment” shall mean a statement by a person that the person has executed an instrument for the purposes stated therein. If the instrument is executed in a representative capacity, an acknowledgement certifies that the person who signed the instrument did so with proper authority and executed the instrument as the act of the person or entity stated therein. (2) “Affirmation” shall mean a promise of truthfulness that is a solemn, spoken pledge on one's own, personal honor without reference to a Supreme Being. (3) “Copy certification” means a notarial act in which a notary:  a. Is presented with a document that is not a public record; b. Copies or supervises the copying of the document using a photographic or electronic copying process; c. Compares the document to the copy; and d. Determines that the copy is accurate and complete. (4) “Credible witness” means an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath or affirmation from the notary to confirm that individual's identity. (5) “Document” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form, including a record as defined in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (Chapter 12A of Title 6). (6) “Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. (7) “Electronic document” means information that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. (8) “Electronic notarial act” and “electronic notarization” mean an official act by a notary under this title or as otherwise authorized by law that involves electronic documents. (9) “Electronic notarial certificate” means the portion of a notarized electronic document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public's signature, title, commission expiration date, and other required information concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization, and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. (10) “Electronic notary public” or “electronic notary” means a notary public who has been commissioned by the Secretary with the capability of performing electronic notarial acts under this chapter. (11) “Electronic notary seal” or “electronic seal” means information within a notarized electronic document that confirms the notary's name, jurisdiction, and commission expiration date and generally corresponds to data in notary seals used on paper documents. (12) “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document. (13) “Notarial act” shall mean any act that a notary public of this State is authorized to perform and includes:  a. Taking an acknowledgement; b. Administering an oath or affirmation; c. Taking a verification upon oath or affirmation; d. Witnessing or attesting a signature; e. Certifying or attesting a copy; f. Noting a protest of a negotiable instrument. (14) “Notarial officer” shall mean a notary public or any other officer authorized to perform notarial acts. (15) “Oath” shall mean a promise of truthfulness that is a solemn, spoken pledge to a Supreme Being. (16) “Personal knowledge of identity” or “personally knows” means familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions with that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable uncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed. (17) “Prima-facie evidence” shall mean evidence that would, if uncontested, establish a fact or raise a presumption of a fact. (18) “Principal” means:  a. A person whose signature is notarized; or b. A person, other than a credible witness, taking an oath or affirmation from the notary. (19) “Record of notarial acts” means a device for creating and preserving a chronological record of notarizations performed by a notary. (20) “Representative capacity” shall mean:  a. For and on behalf of a corporation, partnership, trust or other entity as an authorized officer, agent, partner or other representative; b. As a public officer, personal representative, guardian or other representative in the capacity recited in the instrument; c. As an attorney in fact for a principal; or d. In any other capacity as an authorized representative of another. (21) “Satisfactory evidence of identity” means identification of an individual based on:  a. Examination of 1 or more of the following documents bearing a photographic image of the individual's face and signature: a United States Passport, a certificate of United States citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, an unexpired foreign passport, an alien registration card with photograph, a state-issued driver's license or a state-issued identification card or a United States military card; or b. The oath or affirmation of 1 credible witness unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary and who personally knows the individual or of 2 credible witnesses unaffected by the document or transaction who each personally knows the individual and shows to the notary documentary identification as described in paragraph (21)a. of this section. (22) “Seal” means a device for affixing on a paper document an image containing the notary's name and other information related to the notary's commission. (23) “Secretary” means Secretary of State. (24) “Verification upon oath or affirmation” shall mean a statement by a person who asserts that the statement is true and makes the assertion upon oath or affirmation.63 Del. Laws, c. 61, §  4;  64 Del. Laws, c. 275, §  1;  72 Del. Laws, c. 65, §  8;  76 Del. Laws, c. 253, §  1;