Prohibited Acts and Official Misconduct
The Prohibited Acts and Official Misconduct domain tests the line between a correctable error and conduct that exposes you to discipline, civil liability, or criminal penalties. The exam focuses on intentional deception, blank documents, absent signers, misuse of the stamp, unauthorized legal practice, and improper copy certification.
Prohibited conduct
- Notarizing your own signature or performing an act in which you are a signer or party.
- Notarizing without personal appearance, except authorized remote notarization.
- Signing or stamping a blank document or incomplete certificate.
- Backdating, falsifying a certificate, or making a false statement about an oath.
- Lending your commission, stamp, or journal to another person.
- Using the stamp after expiration, revocation, or while suspended.
- Giving legal advice, drafting legal documents, or telling a signer what a document legally means.
- Certifying copies of public records or vital records.
- Charging fees beyond those authorized by law or withholding records from proper review.
Official misconduct
Misconduct includes intentional deception, improper influence, false certificates, and failure to comply with Delaware notarial law. Consequences can include denial, suspension, or revocation of the commission, civil liability, and criminal penalties. The notary’s intent matters: a clerical mistake may be corrected, but knowingly certifying a false act is misconduct.
Worked example
A notary is asked to notarize a brother’s signature and to “date it last Friday so it meets the deadline.” The notary must refuse the backdating even if the brother appears in person and has valid ID. A notary may perform a lawful act only on the actual date and only with the required appearance and oath or acknowledgment. Backdating creates a false certificate and is official misconduct. If the notary has a disqualifying interest, the notary must also decline for that reason.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating “the signer was here yesterday” as personal appearance.
- Stamping first and filling in the certificate later.
- Certifying a birth certificate or court record as a “true copy.”
- Explaining legal rights or drafting a will, deed, or power of attorney.
- Assuming a commission protects you from liability for a false certificate.