Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Illinois

Why is your friend offering to do this? If it is a gift, he may not. Notarization is irrelevant. If there is real consideration -- maybe he is "repaying" a favor, then the consideration ought to be recited, because then it is not a gift but a real contract. Except for one thing -- past consideration is no consideration. So if the "repayment" is part of this ongoing "gift" cycle, you're back to square one. One of the fundamentals of a contract (as compared to a "pledge" for a gift) is that there is consideration on both sides. Promise for promise, promise for cash/equiv, promise for performance, cash for performance, performance for performance...and so on. Sounds like you have a gift an unless you're a real charity, there's no consideration. PS another form of consideration is "forbearance" which is (in this case) maybe your not suing him for some transgression and this is the way he'd make it up to you, but even in that case a recitation of the forbearance would be appropriate. PS why do people think that a notary adds substance to anything; all it does is verify (supposedly). And if you're verifying a nullity, it doesn't become more than a nullity as a result of the notarization, except it is a verified nullity.....