PA Notary study guide
PA Notary · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
A Pennsylvania notary public is a commissioned public officer empowered to perform notarial acts: taking acknowledgments, administering oaths and affirmations, witnessing or attesting signatures, certifying copies, and noting protests. Notaries serve real estate closings, estate and banking paperwork, adoption and court filings, and everyday business documents. The PA Notary study guide has 8 sections and about 2,680 words.
01Pennsylvania Notary Public Law and RULONA Fundamentals
Pennsylvania notaries are governed by the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), enacted in 2018, which replaced the older Notary Public Law and is administered by the Department of State. Many exam distractors are built on outdated assumptions-county appointment, lifetime commissions-so recognize them as traps.
317 words, about 2 min02Notarial Powers, Authority, and Limitations
A Pennsylvania notary may perform only what RULONA authorizes: taking an acknowledgment; administering an oath or affirmation; taking a verification on oath or affirmation (a jurat); witnessing or attesting a signature; certifying or attesting a copy; certifying a fact; and noting a protest of a negotiable instrument. Authority is statewide for the life of the commission-there is no county line.
357 words, about 2 min03Identification and Personal Appearance Requirements
RULONA requires the notary to identify each signer using satisfactory evidence, which means one of three things: (1) personal knowledge of the individual; (2) a government-issued photo identification bearing the individual's signature -driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID-that is current or recently expired; or (3) a credible witness personally known to the notary who personally knows the signer, or two credible witnesses whose own identities are proven by satisfactory evidence. The signer must appear in person before the notary.
328 words, about 2 min04Acknowledgments and Jurats
An acknowledgment and a jurat both require the signer to appear, but they accomplish different things. The signer acknowledges that the signature on the record is the signer's own and was made voluntarily.
337 words, about 2 min05Other Notarial Acts: Verification, Certification, Protest, and Copy Certification
A verification on oath or affirmation records a statement of fact made under oath-sworn testimony in written form. A certification of fact is the notary's own attestation of a fact (for example, that a person appeared and produced identification) without administering an oath.
313 words, about 2 min06Notary Seal, Signature, and Official Records/Journal
The official stamp must show the notary's name exactly as commissioned , the words "Notary Public," "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," and the commission expiration date . It must be legible and capable of photographic reproduction, applied in ink that reproduces clearly, and used only when a notarial act is actually performed.
353 words, about 2 min07Fees, Misconduct, Prohibited Acts, and Penalties
Pennsylvania caps the fee a notary may charge for each notarial act-a small per-act amount-and permits a separately disclosed travel charge where applicable. A notary may charge less or waive the fee, but exceeding the cap, or charging for a service not performed, is misconduct.
328 words, about 2 min08Ethics, Conflicts of Interest, and Best Practices
A notary is a public officer whose value depends on neutrality. Do not advocate for a party, do not explain what a document means, and do not steer a signer toward a particular lender, product, or attorney.
347 words, about 2 min