This is not a referral service and not a directory of the verified. Names here are curated starting points; licensing is the state's business and yours to confirm — follow the commissions lookup note under each place before you rely on a name. The registry grows when a neighbor says "ask for so-and-so," and stays honest when it says so.
Two honest kinds of hands sit in the list: licensed notaries (performing the legal act — check the commission) and neighbor witnesses (signing to witness copies, which is not notarization). The in-browser ceremony — where both parties and a witness attest the same sealed statement — waits on identity (#42), so a real person keeps doing the real act.
How a signature gets its teeth
1Seal the words
At the Escrow Printer, the exact words get a fingerprint. One changed letter breaks the seal — provable forever, with no connection.
2Print & sign in front of a hand
Print the sheet (seal printed on it, twice), sign in ink with the parties, and the notary or witness signs and stamps the witness page.
3Keep a copy each
Every party keeps a bundle, and the copies must agree. If two ever disagree, a seal was broken — and the disagreement is provable.
Why the registry is small and honest by design
Identity (#42) is the naming authority that turns a name on this page into a person with a stable handle across the five sites. Until it lands, a notary is a person you ask around for, and this page is the map of who to ask. The moment identity lands, the same rows can carry live attestations — the in-browser ceremony, the "verified" badge, and the standing witnesses all hang on that one hook.
If you know a licensed notary near a place on this list, tell the builder — curating is the whole game.