Checker · statute-sourced · 2026

Do I need a notary or witnesses?

Signing requirements are the most common reason a document gets rejected by a bank, a recorder, or the DMV. Pick the document and the state and see what the signing block must contain — with the statute or agency page it comes from.

1 · Which document are you signing?

Power of attorney (financial / durable) Quitclaim deed Vehicle bill of sale LLC operating agreement Residential lease

2 · Which state?

The short version

Power of attorney — notarization is a validity requirement in 30 states and only "recommended" (not a validity requirement) in 20; 10 states also require one or two witnesses. Notarize everywhere: banks and recorders expect it.
Quitclaim deed — the grantor's signature must be acknowledged before a notary to record the deed in every state; 5 states additionally require subscribing witnesses.
Vehicle bill of sale — 3 states require the bill of sale itself to be notarized. Elsewhere the DMV either notarizes the title assignment or needs no notary at all.
LLC operating agreement and lease — ordinary contracts: signatures are enough, no notary or witnesses as a general rule. The LLC question is different — "must the LLC have a written agreement?" — and only 4 states say yes.

Notary and witness rules by state — POA, quitclaim deed, bill of sale

All 50 states + DC. POA = financial/durable POA (as of 2026); deed = quitclaim deed execution rules (as of 2026); bill of sale = vehicle bill of sale per the state DMV (as of 2026). Witness counts are witnesses required besides the notary. Click a cell to open the source.

State	Power of attorney		Quitclaim deed		Bill of sale
State	Notary	Witnesses	Notary	Witnesses	Notary	Witnesses
Alabama	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Alaska	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Arizona	Required	1	Required	0	Not required	0
Arkansas	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
California	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Colorado	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Connecticut	Recommended	2	Required	2	Not required	0
Delaware	Required	1	Required	0	Not required	0
District of Columbia	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Florida	Required	2	Required	2	Not required	0
Georgia	Required	1	Required	1	Not required	0
Hawaii	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Idaho	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Illinois	Required	1	Required	0	Not required	0
Indiana	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Iowa	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Kansas	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Kentucky	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Louisiana	Not required	0	Required	2	Required	0
Maine	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Maryland	Required	2	Required	0	Required	0
Massachusetts	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Michigan	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Minnesota	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Mississippi	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Missouri	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Montana	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Nebraska	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Nevada	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
New Hampshire	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
New Jersey	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
New Mexico	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
New York	Required	2	Required	0	Not required	0
North Carolina	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
North Dakota	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Ohio	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Oklahoma	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Oregon	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Pennsylvania	Required	2	Required	0	Not required	0
Rhode Island	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
South Carolina	Required	2	Required	2	Not required	0
South Dakota	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Tennessee	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Texas	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Utah	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Vermont	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Virginia	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Washington	Required	0	Required	0	Not required	0
West Virginia	Required	0	Required	0	Required	0
Wisconsin	Recommended	0	Required	0	Not required	0
Wyoming	Recommended	0	Required	0	Varies	0

Deed "Required" = the deed must be acknowledged (or proved) to be recorded; Colorado's recording statute is unusually lenient about defective acknowledgments — see the cited section. Bill of sale witnesses: no state DMV in our dataset requires witnesses on a vehicle bill of sale. For the full per-state detail see the POA requirements study, the bill of sale notarization study and the quitclaim deed guide. What the notary can charge: notary fees by state; is the commission current: notary lookup.

Frequently asked questions

How does the checker decide what my document needs?

It reads the same per-state datasets that power our generators: the power of attorney rules (as of 2026), the quitclaim deed execution rules (as of 2026), the vehicle bill of sale DMV rules (as of 2026) and the LLC act definitions (as of 2026). Every answer shows the statute or agency it came from so you can verify it yourself.

What does "Notary: recommended" mean for a power of attorney?

In 20 states the statute does not make notarization a validity requirement — at most it gives an acknowledged (notarized) signature a presumption of genuineness. The POA is technically valid without a notary, but banks routinely refuse un-notarized POAs and a POA used for real estate cannot be recorded without an acknowledgment. Notarize anyway.

Does a quitclaim deed always need a notary?

For recording, yes — every state requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged (or proved) before the deed can be recorded, and an unrecorded deed does not protect the grantee against later buyers or creditors. The witness count is the part that varies: 5 states require subscribing witnesses besides the notary. The checker quotes each state's acknowledgment rule.

My state says the bill of sale does not need a notary, but the DMV asked for a notarized signature. Why?

Several states notarize the title assignment on the certificate of title itself (for example Arizona, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wyoming). That is a notarized title, not a notarized bill of sale. Only 3 states require the bill of sale document itself to be notarized; the checker links the DMV page for each state.

Do LLC operating agreements or leases need a notary or witnesses?

As a general rule, no. State LLC acts define the operating agreement broadly — most accept oral or implied agreements, and none condition it on notarization. Only 4 states say an LLC must have one at all. Residential leases likewise are ordinary contracts: signatures of landlord and tenant are enough, and no state landlord-tenant act in our dataset requires a notary. A lease or lease memorandum that will be recorded in the land records is the exception — recording offices require an acknowledgment.

Is this legal advice?

No. It is an informational tool that organizes what each state statute or agency says, with the citation shown. Health-care powers of attorney, wills and trusts have separate — usually stricter — witness rules that this checker does not cover. For anything unusual, talk to an attorney or a notary in your state.