Prohibited Acts and Conflicts of Interest
No personal stake
A notary may not perform a notarial act on a document in which the notary is a signer, a party, or has a direct beneficial interest. A notary also may not notarize the signature of a spouse, parent, child, or sibling where the notary would benefit - the conflict rules center on whether the notary gains a direct benefit from the transaction. The safest rule: if the notary is named in the document or profits from it, decline.
No unauthorized practice of law
A notary may not draft legal documents, explain legal effect, select documents for a customer, or advise on legal rights. Explaining what a document means or which form to use crosses into unauthorized practice of law. A notary may describe the notarial act being performed and point to the certificate language, but not give legal advice.
Other prohibited conduct
- Notarizing a signature not made in the notary's presence (except permitted remote or directed-signature rules).
- Using a false or expired commission, or notarizing after expiration.
- Charging more than the statutory fee or demanding compensation not permitted by law.
- Falsifying a certificate or backdating an act.
- Notarizing where the notary cannot communicate with the signer without a permitted accommodation.
Worked example
A notary's brother asks her to notarize a deed transferring the brother's house to her. She is a party and a direct beneficiary - she must refuse and refer him to another notary. The family relationship alone might not always bar an act, but the direct benefit clearly does.
Rule of thumb: If you sign it, benefit from it, or must explain its legal effect - you cannot notarize it.