Notarize

To make official. That is, a Notary Public is called in. Decades of training allow notary publics to take a finger print, instruct notarizees to sign right here on this dotted line, to check an i.d. and then pay them $20 for the privilege. Notarizing makes documents fully legal as if both sides of the contract had full human eyes on the person signing whatever document it is that was notarized. And it's a needed skill as often contracts are signed among parties living far apart; the notary provides a kind of virtual legal presence for both sides.