[CarmJoeMom]

Does Pennsylvania require documents be county certified before State certified? Anyone know?

[GuatMommy2Be]

No. Just state.

[Tamiswaiting]

Nope

[moelladeville]

Actually, I live in Montgomery county, and I got all of my certifications done by the prothonotary's office for $3 a page, which is much cheaper than Harrisburg. I've done two adoptions this way with no problems. No need to send to Harrisburg if you live in Montco. Philadelphia on the other hand charges like $30 a page for authentication, so my friend from Philly had to drive to Harrisburg. So it depends on your county, but check it out, you could save big bucks, time and gas or shipping money. Good luck.

[CarmJoeMom]

I live in Northampton county...do you know if I could do what you did? Where do I find out?

[moelladeville]

Originally Posted by CarmJoeMom

I live in Northampton county...do you know if I could do what you did? Where do I find out?

What authentication is is essentially verification of a notary's commission. When I lived in Illinois, I got my authentications done at the county clerk's office instead of sending them to the capital. In PA, I called the county and asked who commissions notaries, and they said the Montco Prothonotary office. I don't know if it's the same in Northampton county, but I'd start by asking if you have a county prothonotary. If not, ask who commissions notary publics. Good luck!

[Faith58]

When we adopted our first child I had all my documents done by the prothonotaries office but, then had to have them redone by the State office. It cost me a lot to have everything reauthenticated by the Guatemala embassy in N.Y. I was really upset.

You only need to get them state certified not county certified. Hope this helps.

[arthymom]

Hey moelladeville,

I am in MOntco too, but I was told by our placing agency to have everything State sealed.


Weird.

[Mamma]

We also had to have our items sent to the Sec. of State (according to our agency).

[moelladeville]

Until now, I have never heard of anyone having to re-do documents as the person mentioned above, and that's in four active years in the adoption community. And I got state authentication at the prothonotary's office, so I'm not sure what you got that's different. I completed three successful adoptions this way.

And, for the record, the prothonotary does NOT give a "county seal" -- it gives a state authentication that the notary is indeed a notary -- it's the same thing that is done in Harrisburg. There is no such thing that I am aware of that is a "county seal." And people say "state seals" when what they really mean is "authentication" that the notary is indeed a notary in a certain state. Some agencies say "State seal" some say "authentication" -- it's semantics. They're the same thing.

[hopper_puck]

I live in PA too. We were told we had to get the documents state certified from Harrisburg. We didn't get anything certified at the county level.

Sarah

[moelladeville]

Originally Posted by hopper_puck

I live in PA too. We were told we had to get the documents state certified from Harrisburg. We didn't get anything certified at the county level.

Sarah

It's ALL authentication. It's the same thing whether you drive to Harrisburg or go to your county seat. It's the same.

And for those of you who were told by your agencies that you had to send them to Harrisburg, all I can say is, sometimes we adoptive parents know more than the agencies do. I did my entire second and third dossiers on my own, and I ended up telling both my second and third agencies about some of the documents I wanted included that they didn't think I need. I did not have one paperwork error or kickout for paperwork in either of those adoptions. So my advice is don't take agencies' word as gospel. Many agencies don't have offices in Pennsylvania and don't understand the system. And those who do have PA offices and who don't tell you you can save money (in some cases) by getting your authentications done locally simply haven't done their homework!