Early this morning, in the thunder and rain, I drove an hour to Nassau County Long Island County Clerk’s office only to be told that the Notary Public whose signature I was authenticating did not notarize my paper properly (it needed to say “was sworn by me”) nor was he actually qualified in Nassau County, as his stamp states, something I would never have known unless I thought to ask him “hey, are you really certified in Nassau County like your stamp says?” Plus, it was a third party document. I never even saw the guy — all was done through FedEX through our accountant who was so diligent in getting us the info and obviously was unaware. So, after about 15 minutes of two clerks doing some research as I looked up towards the ceiling or anything to keep my chin from quivering, they told me I actually need to be at the County Clerk’s office in Queens where this Notary was in fact qualified, but since his stamp is actually wrong, nothing could be done for me anyway except to renotarize. And that I should contact this Notary Public and tell him he is doing business improperly since his stamp is incorrect and therefore he can never officially be authenticated. Now, I know I certainly didn’t manifest that.
What I did manifest however is the courage to call my adoption coordinator at her home at 8:30am her time (Pacific time) and ask her, while I was still out on Long Island and before I left, how else this can be handled to avoid any additional issues. What we decided is that tomorrow Gary and I will get the papers renotarized in Brooklyn with our own signatures, not the accountant’s, this time with a sentence that states the documents pertain to us. When I get the Brooklyn notaries authenticated, I will tell them to ignore the original notarization from Nassau County. I called the Kings County Clerk and verified about 5 times that there will be a defunct notary on my paper which must be ignored. It appears that all will be okay.
Though plans are always changing, it is now estimated by me that should all go as planned, we’ll get the documents Apostilled on Thursday.
Since I was already out on Long Island today, minutes from Roosevelt Field Mall, my favorite place to shop, I consoled myself with a wee bit of retail therapy before I headed home. In that way, my trip out to Long Island was not for naught.
Plus, last night Gary and I spoke about the support I need. That was good and needed.
I complete this adoption dossier process with ease and peace.
Finishing up the final steps will be a breeze, with Gary by my side to support me every step of the way.
Wow! What a doozy! Who would ever have guessed. My chin would have been quivering too!
That is so awesome that there is a "quick fix" though. I'm so happy you called your coordinator looking for other options, and don't have to send it back and start over again on that document. Great news!
Wow! What a doozy! Who would ever have guessed. My chin would have been quivering too!
That is so awesome that there is a "quick fix" though. I'm so happy you called your coordinator looking for other options, and don't have to send it back and start over again on that document. Great news!
Wow! What a doozy! Who would ever have guessed. My chin would have been quivering too!
That is so awesome that there is a "quick fix" though. I'm so happy you called your coordinator looking for other options, and don't have to send it back and start over again on that document. Great news!
Hello 🙂 We are also on a journey to become 5. We adopted our two beautiful children from Kazakhstan in the summer of 2005 and are in the process of adding another Kaz treasure to our family.
We are in a similar spot in our journey. We sent our completed dossier to our agency at the end of May and it is being translated.
Best wishes!
Allison
Hello 🙂 We are also on a journey to become 5. We adopted our two beautiful children from Kazakhstan in the summer of 2005 and are in the process of adding another Kaz treasure to our family.
We are in a similar spot in our journey. We sent our completed dossier to our agency at the end of May and it is being translated.
Best wishes!
Allison
Hello 🙂 We are also on a journey to become 5. We adopted our two beautiful children from Kazakhstan in the summer of 2005 and are in the process of adding another Kaz treasure to our family.
We are in a similar spot in our journey. We sent our completed dossier to our agency at the end of May and it is being translated.
Best wishes!
Allison
Hi,
The same thing happened to me with several notaries from our credit union. I ended up going to get our documents apostilled 3 times. I wanted to cry the first time, the lady at the apostille office almost cried for me the second time. All happened during winter storm warnings. Now I laugh about it but sure was crazy when it was happening. These stories end up being the defining moments in our adoption journey! We are currently waiting for our LOI.
Blessings,
Kris
Sounds like a good plan! So sorry for the confusion. There is just so much to "know". Thank you for posting! Blessings! Janie
Sounds like a good plan! So sorry for the confusion. There is just so much to "know". Thank you for posting! Blessings! Janie
Sounds like a good plan! So sorry for the confusion. There is just so much to "know". Thank you for posting! Blessings! Janie