Utah Man Makes Strange Notarization Before Death
We are at a loss on this one. A Utah man was found dead in a freezer with a notarized document stating that his wife did not kill him.
Say What?
It took us a while to wrap our heads around this one as well, but there is a decent backstory to it. Just another in a long line of bizarre notarial signings.
Frozen with Your Notarized Document
This is not just some event that happened recently. The man, a military veteran, was frozen since 2009. 2009.
Two ….. Thousand ….. Nine
The man is reported to have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. The notarized document was signed the previous year stating his wife was not responsible for his death.
Local News Affiliate WTKR has reported local authorities believe he died of natural causes.
Read the Fine Print
The Notary said they never actually read the document, just signed/stamped it.
And now they get to be the notary that signed a death document that was not a will.
There is literally no good part about this for the notary. This story has been seen lightheartedly in the local area. Every time someone googles your name, they are going to see the video on CNN.
And since the entire story is so bizarre, local residents are less likely to forget, or ask themselves how/why the name sounds somewhat familiar. And then they go to Google. And we think you can figure what just might happen next.
They say there is no such thing as bad publicity. But, this is probably a special case. And not in a good way. Fortunately, for this notary public, the name of the notary has not been a focus of the story. And hopefully it stays that way.
Fraud Was One Reason to Put the Document on Ice
While the Veteran died, the checks from the VA and social security kept being delivered. It was probably a driving factor in what happened, regardless of the convenient document.
The woman recently passed, which led to the discovery of the husband in freezer.
Anything to Take Away
We sure hope not. We would hope the expectations are higher. Everyone needs to at least know what you are signing, and not just be a rubber stamp.
Don’t forget this is a great example of a document that someone may sign under duress.
And maybe consider the possibility of not signing something like that. Ever. Seriously, if the husband was found before the wife died herself, the notary would be hating life right now.
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