Decree absolute certified exemplified court order judgment family court

An exemplified copy (or exemplification) is an official attested copy or transcript of a public instrument, made under the seal and original pen-in-hand signature of a court or public functionary and in the name of the sovereign, for example, "The People of the State of Oklahoma". Exemplifications can only be attested and executed by either the authority holding the record or the issuing authority. Exemplified copies are also usually an extract or transcript made directly from the original. They can be contrasted with certified copies which are attested by a public authority who does not necessarily execute the copy; are signed and sealed by the certifier, not necessarily the issuing authority or recorder; and are a facsimile, made from the original or not, and vary as to faithfulness, for example, fair copy, imitative copy, and so forth. Certified copies of birth and death records from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Georgia, and in certain other locations in the US can, if requested, be accompanied by a letter of exemplification. This is the first step in a process leading to

authentication Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an Logical assertion, assertion, such as the Digital identity, identity of a computer system user. In contrast with iden ...

or an

apostille The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Th ...

. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and certain other common-law jurisdictions, exemplifications may be made of any official document by a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

. More specifically, the term refers to an attested copy of a

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of one party's claims or defenses in response to another party's complaint(s) in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define t ...

in its entirety. In this sense, it is also known as a triple certificate or three-way certificate. Its authenticity is sworn to by the

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

of the court where the judgment was rendered, and counter-authenticated by the presiding judicial officer of that

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

. The clerk then swears to the authenticity of the judge's signature, incumbency, and authority. The certificate page with the triple authentication is called the exemplification. A copy of this type is normally required by other

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

countries A country is a distinct part of the Earth, world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, List of states with limited r ...

when copies are being submitted for filing in their local court.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{Citation , title = Vital Records , contribution = Frequently Asked Questions , place = Georgia , publisher = Department of Human Resources , year = 2006 , contribution-url = http://health.state.ga.us/programs/vitalrecords/faq.asp , accessdate = 21 January 2009. Stewart Rapalje and Robert L. Lawrence, eds., ''A Dictionary of American and English Law'', vol. 1, A–K, s.v. "Exemplification" (The Lawbook Exchange, 1997), 484. Michael M. Martin and Daniel J. Capra, ''New York Evidence Handbook: Rules, Theory, and Practice'', 2nd ed. (NY: Aspen Pub., 2002), p. 900.

External links

Examples of exemplification pages from United States courts
Legal documents Notary

See also

References

External links