In law, an acknowledgment is a declaration or avowal of one's own act, used to authenticate legal instruments, which may give the instrument legal validity, and works to prevent the recording of false instruments or fraudulent executions.
The party executing the legal instrument orally declares that the instrument is his or her act or deed, and the official prepares a certificate attesting to the declaration.
[1] Acknowledgments are distinct from jurats, verifications, and attestations.
Finally, an attestation occurs where a third person gives his or her name as a witness to the actual execution of an instrument.
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