Notarial Acts and Duties
What the domain covers
The Notarial Acts and Duties domain tests whether you can recognize a lawful Kansas notarial act and carry it out with the required personal appearance, identification, oath, and record discipline. Under the Kansas Notaries Public Act, notaries take acknowledgments, administer oaths and affirmations, execute jurats, and perform other authorized acts. Exam questions are usually scenarios: who may sign, what must happen in your presence, and when you must refuse.
Core rules
- Personal appearance is mandatory. The signer must appear before you in Kansas. You cannot notarize by mail, by phone, or from a signature alone.
- Identify the signer. Use personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence-typically a current government-issued photo ID with a signature. An expired ID or a coworker's assurance is not satisfactory evidence.
- Match the act to the request. An acknowledgment confirms voluntary execution; a jurat requires an oath or affirmation that the contents are true.
- Check willingness and competence. If the signer appears coerced, confused, or unable to understand the act, stop.
- Complete the certificate at the time of the act and apply your official stamp. Never leave a certificate blank for later completion.
Worked example
A man brings a deed and says, “My coworker knows me-can you notarize my signature?” You have never met him and he has no ID. You must decline. Personal knowledge means your own knowledge, not a third party's. He may return with acceptable ID or go to a notary who personally knows him. If he returns with ID, you may take his acknowledgment, complete the certificate, sign, stamp, and record the act.
Traps that cost marks
Do not confuse witnessing a signature with a notarial act. Do not accept an expired ID or one lacking a photo and signature. Do not give legal advice about the document. Do not notarize when the signer cannot explain what they are signing or appears pressured.