In most common-law countries, multiple-page acts are bound together using a sewn or knotted ribbon (referred to as silk), the ends of which are secured by a wafer impressed with the notary's seal.
Public-form acts include all contracts and governing instruments (e.g. conveyance, will, trust, power of attorney, gift).
In common-law countries, notaries prepare multiple duplicate originals fully executed and sealed, as a copy would not be admissible in court.
Notarial certificates are endorsed on or appended to a pre-existing document and attest to its due execution, genuine nature, and validity, or legal status and effects.
Typical parts are: The public act is governed by paragraph 7 of Title XI of the Organic Code of the Courts, in particular articles 403-414.
[4][5] Notariate appeared in France as early as the xi, the oldest acts are in the local language or Latin and require good paleography skills to decipher them.
[12] The main ones that can be cited, especially those of interest to genealogists, are prenuptial agreements, wills, post-death inventories, farm leases, sales contracts, and deeds of gift.