Notary Public Responsibilities and Duties
The Responsibilities and Duties domain tests the notary’s role as an impartial public officer, not a document preparer or legal adviser. Questions often turn on personal appearance, identification, willingness, oath administration, certificate completion, and recordkeeping.
Core duties
- Personal appearance. The signer must appear before you at the time of the notarial act. Remote online notarization is the limited exception and only under Delaware’s authorization and technology rules.
- Identify and screen. Use satisfactory evidence: personal knowledge or a government-issued ID with photo and signature; a credible witness may be used where the law allows. Confirm the signer is willing, aware, and not coerced.
- Administer the oath. For a jurat or verification, the signer must swear or affirm; do not treat the jurat as a mere signature block.
- Complete the certificate. Record the date, signer, act, your signature, and official stamp. Do not sign or stamp a blank certificate.
- Keep the required journal entry and protect your commission, stamp, and records. Report a name or address change and surrender the commission when required.
- Stay in scope. Explain what you are doing, not what the document means or whether it is legally effective.
Worked example
A woman brings a signed power of attorney and asks you to “make it legal.” She appears in person, her photo ID matches, and she says the signature is hers. You may perform an acknowledgment: the signer need not have signed in your presence, but she must appear and acknowledge the signature. Complete an acknowledgment certificate, stamp it, and journal the act. You must not advise her that the power of attorney is valid or give legal advice about its use.
Traps that cost marks
- Notarizing for an absent signer or accepting a signature by phone.
- Confusing personal knowledge with casual acquaintance; you still need credible identification.
- Signing the certificate before the signer appears or before the oath is administered.
- Forgetting the stamp, commission expiration, or journal entry.
- Acting as if “notary” includes legal advice.