CA Notary cheat sheet

A California notary commission runs for four years; the Secretary of State appoints and commissions notaries, and a commission is not transferable to another person or county.

Minimum eligibility: at least 18 years old, California resident, completion of a six-hour approved education course, passage of the Secretary of State exam, fingerprint clearance, and a $15,000 surety bond filed before the oath and commission issue.

The official notary bond is $15,000 and protects the public, not the notary; a separate errors and omissions policy is optional and is the notary's own protection.

A notary must file the bond, take the oath of office, and file the oath and bond with the county clerk within 30 days of the commission start date, or the commission is void.

Grounds for discipline include fraud, dishonesty, failure to discharge duties, charging more than the statutory maximum fee, and conviction of a disqualifying offense; the Secretary of State may refuse, revoke, suspend, or impose conditions.

Statutory maximum fees (per signature or act unless noted): acknowledgment or jurat $15; oath or affirmation without a signature $10; certified copy of a power of attorney $15; each protest $10; notice of protest $5; and a $10 fee for the journal entry used to comply with a subpoena.

A notary may not notarize a document in which the notary is a signer or has a direct financial or beneficial interest, and may not notarize for a spouse, registered domestic partner, or certain lineal relatives where the notarization is to the notary's advantage.

A notary public is a public officer with statewide jurisdiction over civil (not criminal) matters, may administer oaths and affirmations, take affidavits and depositions, and demand acceptance of protests for nonpayment.

Required journal entries are retained for five years from the date of the notarial act; the journal is the notary's property, and the notary must keep it in a safe place and provide it to the Secretary of State or a peace officer on lawful request.

An acknowledgment requires the signer to personally appear, be identified by satisfactory evidence, and acknowledge that the signature is the signer's own act; the certificate wording is completed after the acknowledgment, not before.

A jurat requires the signer to personally appear, sign the document in the notary's presence, and be administered an oath or affirmation; the notary certifies the oath was given, so a jurat cannot be completed for an absent signer.

Satisfactory evidence of identity means a current government-issued photo ID with a serial or identification number, plus a second identifying document or a credible witness who personally knows the signer and the notary.

Acceptable identification includes a state driver's license or ID card, US passport, military ID, or foreign passport; an expired ID or an ID without a physical description and serial number is not satisfactory evidence.

The notary certificate must be completed in the notary's own handwriting or by a stamp, contain the exact statutory wording, the venue county, the date, the notary's signature, name, and commission expiration date, and a legible seal impression.

The official seal must contain the notary's name, the words 'Notary Public,' the county of commission, and the commission expiration date; the seal is applied only after the certificate is completed and must not overlap text.

A notary may certify copies of only two document types: the notary's own original journal and original powers of attorney; a notary may not certify copies of birth, death, or marriage certificates, or other public records.

A notary may not perform a notarial act if the signer is not physically present, appears unwilling or lacking awareness, or cannot be identified by satisfactory evidence; the notary must refuse and may note the refusal in the journal.

The journal entry for each act records the date and time, the type of act, the document title, the signer's name and address, the identification type and number, and the fee charged; thumbprints are required for deeds and powers of attorney.