As a Houston, Texas mobile notary, we frequently make visits to a hospital, or nursing home to notarize documents for patients. Common documents seen are the Medical or Financial power of attorney, or last will and living will.
Nursing Home patients have varying degrees of conditions, and illnesses, from minor problems to terminal illness. Some patients are in pain or discomfort. While we can’t help them with their medical care, we are glad to be able to help them by notarizing their paperwork. Many times this is a tremendous relief to patients and to their families.
Because situations can have a sudden onset, escalate quickly or be otherwise unexpected, our notary service remains on call and available 24/7 for signings of this nature.
Please remember that we are not attorneys. Notaries can not provide or prepare legal documents, can not offer legal advice, or provide any type of legal opinions. We strongly suggest that the patient’s family reach out to a lawyer for their required documents.
Common Family Concerns
We understand that these are difficult circumstances, and signers may be emotional. We fully respect these circumstances and will do everything possible to treat the signer with the utmost dignity and respect. An important aspect of working with a signer in these conditions is to determine their exact wishes related to the documents. We must positively identify the signer and be certain that the documents are indeed something that the signer is willing to sign, understands and knows their content, and is not acting under duress.
- YES. We can work with patients who do not have total mobility of their hands and who may be challenged with signing their name
- YES. We can work with patients who have suffered a stroke or who may not have their total speech function
- NO. We can not work with signers who are comatose.
How-It-Works
- If your loved one is in a nursing home or hospice facility and needs a notary, first inquire if the facility has a staff notary to assist you.
- To reserve our services and get an accurate quote, please call or text us. We need your name/location and a couple of sentences to understand your needs and situation; then a notary will call you back momentarily to discuss your needs. Leave a voicemail, we will contact you quickly.
- We will print general documents if needed- but we can not recommend, provide, or fill-in legal documents or templates
- Documents must be filled in completely for notarization to occur
- The signer may be medicated or resting, but will need to be awake, alert and willing to sign the documents in the notary’s presence.
- If unable to speak, determine if the signer can communicate with our notary using eye or hand signals, or by uttering sounds in response to questions
- The notary will ask a number of screening questions prior to the appointment to confirm signer eligibility or communication ability, and may ask to speak to the nurse on duty
- In cases where the signer no longer has a valid driver’s license, (perhaps for an elderly signer who has not driven in years), Texas law allows using Credible Witnesses who can vouch for the identity of the signer. Discuss this with the notary when setting the appointment.
- Texas law does not allow signings to be completed over Facetime or video conferencing. Signer must be present.