Notary Public cheat sheet

A notary commission is granted by a state (or territorial) authority - typically the governor, secretary of state, or legislature - and the notary's authority exists only within that jurisdiction's borders.

A notary's powers are strictly statutory: a notary may perform only those acts the commissioning statute authorizes, and an act performed outside that grant is void or voidable.

Jurisdiction is geographic as well as subject-matter: a notarial act performed outside the commissioning state is generally invalid as to that commission, even if the notary is physically present with the signer.

A notary's authority is personal and non-delegable; a notary may not authorize an employee, spouse, or assistant to perform a notarial act under the notary's seal.

Commission terms are fixed by statute (commonly four to ten years) and expire automatically; reappointment requires a new application, bond, and oath where the statute so requires.

Most states require a surety bond and an oath of office before the commission becomes effective; the bond protects the public, not the notary, and does not cap personal liability.

A notary who moves out of the commissioning state, or who becomes a nonresident, must resign or surrender the commission as the statute directs; continuing to notarize after loss of residency is unauthorized practice.

Commissioned notaries may also hold separate credentials (signing agent, electronic notary, remote online notary) that each carry their own registration, training, and technology requirements.

Core authorized acts: acknowledgments, jurats (verification on oath or affirmation), oaths and affirmations, copy certifications (where authorized), signature witnessing, and protest of negotiable instruments (limited to those states granting it).

An acknowledgment certifies that the signer personally appeared, was identified, and acknowledged executing the document voluntarily - it does not certify that the signer read or understood the contents.

A jurat certifies that the signer personally appeared, was identified, swore or affirmed to the truth of the contents, and signed in the notary's presence; the notary administers the oath as part of the act.

A signature witness certification attests only that the named person appeared and signed in the notary's presence; it does not attest to voluntariness or truth of contents.

A copy certification attests that a copy is a true, exact, complete, and unaltered reproduction of an original; many states restrict it to documents not recordable in public records or forbid it entirely.

Notaries may not perform acts reserved to other officials - for example, certifying a Will's validity, performing a marriage (unless separately empowered), or issuing apostilles (a secretary of state function).

The notarial certificate is the notary's official statement; the notary selects or completes a certificate that matches the act actually performed and must not sign a certificate describing a different act.

A notarial act is complete only when the signer's personal appearance, proper identification, the administration of any required oath, the certificate, and the notary's signature and seal all occur together.

Personal appearance is non-waivable: the signer must be physically present before the notary (or, where authorized, present by approved audio-video for remote online notarization).

Satisfactory evidence of identity is generally one of: a current government-issued photo ID with signature, a credible identifying witness personally known to the notary, or the notary's personal knowledge of the signer.

For a photo ID, the notary verifies the photo matches, the name matches the document, the ID is unexpired (or within any statutory grace period), and the ID bears a serial or identification number.

A credible identifying witness must personally know the signer, be identified by the notary, take an oath, and (in most states) not be named in the document or have a beneficial interest in it.

The notarial certificate must state: the act performed, the signer's name, the date and place (state and county) of the act, the notary's signature, the commission expiration, and the seal/stamp impression.

Certificate wording must match the document's notarial block; if the preprinted block is an acknowledgment but the signer must swear, the notary attaches or substitutes a correct jurat certificate.

A notary may not certify a copy of a document unless the state authorizes copy certification, and may never certify a public record, a birth/death/marriage certificate, or a document whose custodian is a public office.

The notary's signature on the certificate must match the name on the commission exactly as commissioned, and the seal must be legible and photographically reproducible.

Acknowledgment sequence: confirm the signer's identity and appearance, confirm the signer executed the document voluntarily, have the signer acknowledge the signature (the signature may have been made before appearance), then complete the certificate.

Because the signature on an acknowledged document may predate the appearance, the notary does not need to watch the signing - but must confirm the signer personally appeared and acknowledged the signature as their own.

Jurat sequence: confirm identity and appearance, administer the oath or affirmation, have the signer sign in the notary's presence, then complete the jurat certificate and seal.

For a jurat the signer must sign in the notary's presence; a signature made before the appearance cannot be converted to a jurat without re-signing in the notary's presence.

The notary must never sign a blank or incomplete certificate, and must not leave the certificate undated or the venue (state/county) blank.

The notary may not pre-sign, pre-date, or pre-seal certificates, and may not backdate an act to match a document date.

If the signer cannot sign, the notary may use a signature by mark or a proxy as the statute allows, documenting the method and any required witnesses.

The notary must confirm the signer's capacity and willingness; if the signer appears confused, coerced, or incapacitated, the notary should decline to perform the act.

An oath invokes a Supreme Being as witness to the truth of the statement; an affirmation is a solemn declaration made without religious reference - both carry the same legal force.

The notary must actually administer the oath: ask the affiant to raise a hand (customary, not universal) and state the words of the oath or affirmation audibly, then wait for the affiant's response.

An affidavit is a written statement of facts sworn to before a notary; the notary's role is limited to administering the oath and completing the jurat, not to verifying the truth of the facts.

The notary may not draft the affiant's factual statements or advise what to say; the notary may explain the meaning of the oath and the certificate.

The notary must confirm the affiant understands the oath and answers affirmatively; a nod or silence is not a sufficient response in most jurisdictions.

The affiant must sign the affidavit in the notary's presence after the oath is administered; the notary then completes the jurat with the date, venue, signature, and seal.

The notary must not administer an oath to a person the notary knows to be incompetent or to a person who refuses to be sworn, and must not notarize an affidavit the notary has a beneficial interest in.

Where the statute requires, the notary records the oath in the journal, including the type of act, the affiant's name, and the identification method used.

Many states mandate a bound journal of notarial acts; required entries typically include the date and time, type of act, document title or description, signer's name and address, identification method, and fee charged.

Journal entries should be made contemporaneously and in ink; errors are corrected by a single strike-through with initials, never by erasure or correction fluid.

The journal is the notary's property and is generally retained for the statutory period (often five to ten years) after the commission ends; it may be subject to inspection or subpoena.

The official seal or stamp must contain the notary's name as commissioned, the commission number or state, and the commission expiration date, in the format the statute prescribes.

The seal must be applied only to notarial certificates the notary personally completed - never to a document the notary did not notarize, and never to a blank page.

The notary must keep the seal in secure custody; loss or theft must be reported as the statute requires, and the notary remains responsible for misuse by others.

Electronic notarization requires an electronic seal and, where authorized, an electronic journal, with tamper-evident technology and authentication meeting state standards.

A notary may charge only the fees the statute authorizes and must disclose fees; charging more than the statutory maximum is a violation of the commission.

A notary may not notarize their own signature, a document in which the notary is a party or has a direct beneficial interest, or a document involving a close relative or spouse where the statute prohibits it.

A notary may not perform a notarial act for a person the notary knows is not the individual named in the document, and may not notarize without personal appearance.

Prohibited practices include pre-signing or pre-dating certificates, using another person's seal, lending the seal or commission, and notarizing a blank or incomplete document.

A notary may not give legal advice, draft legal documents, or explain the legal effect of a document; doing so may constitute unauthorized practice of law.

A notary may not refuse to perform a notarial act based on the signer's race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or other protected characteristic, or because the signer declines to state a reason for the act.

Civil liability attaches for negligent or improper notarization, and many states impose criminal penalties for willful misconduct, false certificates, or unauthorized use of a seal.

The surety bond covers losses caused by the notary's misconduct up to the bond amount, but the notary remains personally liable for amounts above the bond and for intentional wrongdoing.

A notary who is also an employee of a bank, title company, or law firm may notarize for customers, but must not use the commission to benefit the employer improperly or to pressure a signer.

Red flags: a signer who cannot explain the document, a document with blank spaces or altered dates, a signer who is coached by a third party, and a request to notarize without the signer present.

If the signer appears coerced, confused, or under the influence, the notary should pause, ask the signer privately whether they understand and consent, and decline if doubt remains.

The notary must never accept a request to backdate, pre-date, or alter a certificate, to use a seal on a document not actually notarized, or to vouch for a signature the notary did not witness or receive acknowledgment of.

Requests to notarize a document in a language the notary cannot read are permitted only if the notary can identify the signer and complete the certificate; the notary does not certify the document's content or translation.

A notary who suspects fraud or forgery should decline the act, document the refusal in the journal where permitted, and report to the commissioning authority or law enforcement as appropriate.

The notary must disclose any conflict of interest - such as being named as a beneficiary, agent, or attorney in the document - and decline the act if the conflict is disqualifying.

The notary's duty of confidentiality covers journal information and the content of documents seen during the act, subject to statutory inspection requirements.

Notaries should keep current on statutory changes, maintain errors-and-omissions coverage where available, and never rely on a signing service's instructions that conflict with state law.