Prohibited Acts, Sanctions, and Discipline
Core prohibitions
A notary may not notarize the notary’s own signature, and may not act in a matter in which the notary is a party or has a direct beneficial interest. A notary may not perform a notarial act without the signer’s personal appearance except under the remote-notarization rules, may not use a commission after it expires, may not charge more than the statutory fee, and may not give legal advice or draft legal documents. Using the stamp to make a false certificate, impersonating a notary, or obtaining a commission by misstatement is serious misconduct.
Discipline
The Secretary of State may deny, refuse to renew, suspend, revoke, reprimand, or impose a civil penalty for violations. Criminal liability can follow false certificates or fraud, and a notary may be civilly liable to a person harmed by misconduct. A notary’s duty is ministerial but not a shield: knowingly completing a false certificate is not excused because the notary “just stamped” the paper.
Traps
Questions often test the difference between a notary’s limited inquiry and a duty to refuse. The notary does not have to investigate the truth of the document, but must refuse if the signer does not appear, is not identified, is not willing, or the certificate would be false. Another trap: a notary may not notarize a signature and then later “fix” the date; corrections must not falsify the record.
Worked example
A friend asks a notary to stamp a deed for a signer who is out of state and “will sign later.” The notary must refuse: there is no personal appearance (unless a valid remote session) and no notarial act for a signature not yet made. The notary should explain the appearance and identity requirements rather than accommodate the request.