ANSWERS:
1. A man asks you to notarize a financial document. As you notarize his signature, he slaps his forehead. “I’m so sorry!” he says. “I forgot that my wife’s signature needs to be notarized too, but she’s at work. Please notarize it with an acknowledgment and I’ll vouch for her identity, OK?” What’s wrong here?
A. The wife needs to call you first to confirm she signed the document.
B. The man needs to show you his absent wife’s ID.
C. The wife is not physically present.
D. The man needs to take an oath or affirmation to vouch for his absent wife.
ANSWER: C. You cannot notarize the wife’s signature unless she is physically present. Without the wife being present, you have no way to confirm she is signing this document willingly or if her signature is genuine. A telephone call is insufficient, because you have no way of knowing if you are speaking to the wife or someone else. A Notary cannot simply accept a spouse’s or family member’s request to notarize an absent person’s signature — even under oath. There have been many cases of Notaries who did so only to find out the spouse or relative was committing fraud against the absent person.
2. A woman comes into your office and presents you with a statement she’s written. “I need a jurat from a Notary for this document,” she says. “I’ve already signed it, so can you just give me an oath and fill out a jurat certificate, please? I’m in a hurry.” What’s wrong here?
A. The woman needs a verification on oath or affirmation instead of a jurat.
B. The woman needs to sign the document again in your presence.
C. The woman needs an acknowledgment instead of a jurat.
D. You need to check what notarization the woman needs.
ANSWER: B. Any time that a customer requests a jurat, the document must be signed in your presence. If the document has been previously signed, you can only perform the notarization if the customer signs again in front of you.
3. A customer you don’t know personally brings you an insurance form and asks you to take her acknowledgment of her signature. For ID, she hands you a black and white photocopy of a driver’s license. “I lost my driver’s license, so I’m using this as ID until I can get a replacement,” she says. What’s wrong here?
A. The photocopy needs to be in color in order to be acceptable.
B. The woman needs to sign the photocopy before you can accept it.
C. The woman needs to sign the document in your presence.
D. A photocopy of an ID is not an acceptable substitute for an actual ID.
ANSWER: D. A photocopy of an ID is not an acceptable substitute for actual identification documents. The Notary has no way to verify if the photocopy was altered in some way from the original ID. Unless the customer can provide an alternate form of identification acceptable under your state’s laws, you cannot proceed with the notarization.
4. Your boss asks to borrow your Notary seal. “I’m meeting with an important client for lunch,” he says. “He’s going to sign some important documents, and I need his signature notarized. I’ll just borrow your seal, stamp the documents and you can sign the document and I can sign your journal when I get back.” What’s wrong here?
A. Your boss is not allowed to use your Notary seal.
B. It is improper to merely “stamp documents.”
C. The journal entry must be fully completed by the Notary during the notarization.
D. All of the above.
ANSWER: D. There are multiple problems with the boss’ request. First, the Notary must maintain exclusive control over his or her seal at all times — no one else may borrow or use it. Second, simply “stamping documents” is not sufficient to complete a notarization — the appropriate Notary certificate wording must be completed and attached to the document as well. And finally, the boss cannot simply sign a journal — any time a notarization takes place, the journal entry must be fully completed at the same time, and only the Notary is permitted to do so.
David Thun is an Associate Editor at the National Notary Association.
Additional Resources:
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