UT Notary common mistakes
UT Notary · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Signing or stamping the notarial certificate before the signer appears, or completing the certificate for a signer who never showed up, then 'fixing it later' when the person arrives.
Applicants treat the certificate as paperwork to be pre-filled while the signer is still parking or while several documents are being batched; the certificate looks like a form field, not a sworn record of an event that must already have happened.
What to do instead
Adopt a strict sequence and drill it: identification, then personal appearance, then the oath/acknowledgment, then the signer's signature, then the notary's completion of the certificate in the signer's presence. Never let a blank or partially completed certificate leave your desk before the signer is in front of you.
Administering a jurat by simply watching the signer sign and then writing 'sworn and subscribed' without ever putting the oath or affirmation verbally to the signer.
A signature looks like the whole event, and the difference between an acknowledgment (signature verification) and a jurat (sworn statement) is the single most blurred concept in notary training, so the spoken oath gets skipped under time pressure.
What to do instead
For every jurat, say the oath out loud ('Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the statements in this document are true?') and wait for an audible answer before signing and stamping. If you cannot recall administering the oath, you cannot issue a jurat.
Using acknowledgment wording ('acknowledged before me') on a document that requires a jurat, or swapping in jurat wording on a deed that requires an acknowledgment, because the certificate 'sounds official enough.'
Candidates memorize one certificate template and reuse it, and the two certificates are visually similar in structure (venue, body, signature block), so the functional difference is not salient during a quick review.
What to do instead
Before choosing a certificate, read the document's own instructions and identify the purpose: sworn testimony about facts = jurat; voluntary execution of an instrument = acknowledgment; copy comparison = certified copy. Match the certificate to the act, and if the document specifies wording, use it verbatim.
Accepting an expired driver license, a photocopy of an ID, or no identification at all from a person the notary 'knows from the neighborhood,' and recording nothing about how identity was established.
Familiarity feels like sufficient proof, and refusing a friendly face feels rude; also, notaries often do not realize that satisfactory evidence must be documented, not merely believed.
What to do instead
Require at least one current government-issued photo ID with a signature, compare the photo and the name to the document, and write the ID type and number into your journal entry every time. Personal knowledge is acceptable only if you can articulate and record it, and never accept a copy.
Notarizing a document signed by a spouse, parent, child, or business partner, or notarizing a document in which the notary is named as a party, beneficiary, or has another beneficial interest.
These requests arrive as favors at home or in a small office, and the notary reasons that the signature is genuine so 'no one is harmed' - the conflict rule is treated as a technicality rather than an absolute disqualification.
What to do instead
Apply a bright-line test before touching the certificate: am I a signer, a party, a beneficiary, or a close relative of the signer? If yes, hand the document back and refer the signer to another notary. Keep a short list of alternate notaries to offer so the refusal is easy.
Dating the certificate with a date other than the date the act actually occurred - backdating to match the document date or forward-dating so it 'stays valid' until a filing deadline.
Signers often ask for a date that matches the contract or a closing date, and the notary wants the paperwork to be accepted; the certificate date is mistaken for a clerical detail rather than evidence of when the act happened.
What to do instead
Treat the notarial date as immutable: it is the date you performed the act, written in your own hand at the moment of the act. If a signer pressures you, explain that an incorrect date voids the certificate and exposes both of you; if the timing is wrong, reschedule the signing.
After receiving the commission, delaying the oath of office and bond filing past the statutory deadline, or assuming the commission alone authorizes notarial acts.
The application and exam feel like the finish line, and the post-approval administrative steps arrive as separate mail or email notices that get set aside; candidates also confuse the commission certificate with authority to act.
What to do instead
Calendar the deadline the day the commission is issued and complete the oath and bond filing within the statutory window (30 days) before performing any notarial act. Confirm in writing that the bond and oath are on file, and treat the commission date, not the application date, as the start of your obligations.
Using an incomplete or non-compliant stamp - missing the commission number, expiration date, 'State of Utah,' or the name exactly as commissioned - or relying on a handwritten or embossed-only seal without the required ink stamp.
Stamp orders are placed through vendors with their own defaults, and the notary assumes the stamp is correct because it arrived with the commission paperwork; a married name or shortened first name goes unnoticed.
What to do instead
Compare the stamp line by line against the commission certificate before first use and re-order immediately if anything mismatches. After every stamp, glance at the impression for legibility and completeness; if it is faint or smudged, restamp in a clear area rather than leaving an unreadable image.
Certifying a copy of a document the notary may not copy (such as a recorded public record, a vital record, or a document the notary cannot verify as an original) or certifying a copy without physically comparing every page to the original.
Copy certification feels like a low-risk courtesy, and 'certified true copy' language appears on documents that are actually public records the notary has no authority over; the notary also skips the page-by-page comparison when the packet is thick.
What to do instead
Before certifying, ask whether the document is an original in front of you and whether it is a type the statute excludes from copy certification. If it qualifies, compare every page side by side, then complete a copy-certification certificate that states the copy was compared to the original.
Failing to make a journal entry, or making one that omits the date, the type of act, the signer's name and address, the identification presented, or the fee charged.
The journal adds a step after the stamp is already on the page, so it is the first thing dropped in a busy signing; many notaries also view the journal as a personal diary rather than the statutory record that protects them in a challenge.
What to do instead
Journal before you stamp - make the entry the gate that unlocks the seal, so the stamp cannot happen without it. Use a fixed field order (date, time, signer name and address, ID type and number, act type, document description, fee) and never leave a blank line in the record.