The Notary Hotline receives hundreds of calls daily from Notaries nationwide who find themselves in challenging situations. To boost your knowledge of Notary best practices, we’ve created a series of scenarios based on actual situations and ask a simple question: What would you do?
Imagine you’ve arrived at the home of a signer to notarize a number of documents. At first, everything goes smoothly — the signer has proper identification and engages you in normal conversation.
But there is one odd note: There’s a glass and bottle of liquor on the table, and the signer keeps taking drinks. While he appears lucid as you start with the signings, his attention starts to wander, he begins slurring his speech and his conversation with you becomes less and less coherent.
What Would You Do?
Though the signer has shown you his ID and you’ve completed your journal entries, the signer’s drinking and erratic behavior worry you. Do you stop the notarizations, or should you go ahead and complete them?
To participate in this week’s “What Would You Do?” scenario, share your answers in the comments section below. We may mention your response in next week’s Bulletin, when we offer the best possible answer(s) to this notarial challenge.
David Thun is an Associate Editor at the National Notary Association.