The Seventeen-Year-Old Office Assistant
Grace is 17 years and 9 months old and works as a filing clerk for a Buffalo law firm. She completed a three-hour online “notary training” course last week and received a certificate. The supervising attorney, eager to clear a backlog, tells Grace she can start notarizing client affidavits and acknowledgments on Monday and that the certificate is “all the state needs.” Grace’s 18th birthday is in three months. She has lived in New York her entire life, has a valid driver’s license, and has already picked out a stamp that says “Notary Public, State of New York.” A client is scheduled Monday morning to sign an affidavit. Grace asks whether she can legally stamp and sign it.
1. Can Grace lawfully be appointed as a notary and notarize the Monday affidavit? Explain.
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No. New York requires a notary public to be at least 18 years old, and Grace is still 17. A training certificate is not a commission; only the Secretary of State can appoint a notary. If Grace signs and stamps the affidavit Monday, she would be performing a notarial act without authority, the document would be vulnerable to challenge, and she and the firm could face consequences. She must wait until she is 18, apply to the Department of State, be appointed, and complete the required oath/filing steps before acting.
2. Assume Grace turns 18 and is appointed. What must she have in place before she performs her first notarial act, and what should she tell the attorney about the Monday signing?
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Before acting, Grace must have her commission from the Department of State, must complete the required oath and filing, and must obtain a compliant official stamp showing her name, “Notary Public, State of New York,” her county, and her commission expiration date. Until then, the attorney must use a currently commissioned notary for the Monday signing. Grace should not use someone else’s stamp, backdate a certificate, or notarize “under supervision” before she is commissioned.