Legal and Ethical Responsibilities Flashcards
7 cards from real AR NOTARY practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Legal and Ethical Responsibilities flashcards as text
A signer presents a document with blank spaces for the sale price and asks the notary to notarize it anyway. What should the Arkansas notary do?
Answer: Decline until the blanks are completed or struck through
Notarizing a document with material blanks invites fraud, so the notary should require the document to be complete first.
An Arkansas notary who knowingly notarizes a forged signature could face which combination of consequences?
Answer: Civil liability, criminal prosecution, and revocation of the commission
Knowing participation in a fraudulent notarization exposes the notary to civil damages, criminal charges, and loss of the commission.
A bank customer asks the notary to certify a copy of her birth certificate. What is the correct response in Arkansas?
Answer: Decline, because vital records must be certified by the official custodian, not a notary
Copies of vital records such as birth certificates may only be certified by the issuing government office.
Why is a notary's impartiality considered the foundation of the office?
Answer: Because the public and courts rely on the notary as an unbiased witness with no stake in the transaction
The legal value of a notarization comes from the notary being a disinterested official whose certificate can be trusted.
A notary is asked to notarize for a signer who refuses to remove dark sunglasses and a scarf covering most of his face, and his ID photo cannot be compared. What should the notary do?
Answer: Decline until identity can be reasonably verified
A notary must be able to identify the signer with reasonable certainty, which requires comparing the person to the identification.
An Arkansas notary performs a notarization after her commission expiration date, having forgotten to renew. Which statement is accurate?
Answer: Performing notarial acts without a valid commission is unlawful, even if unintentional
Notarial authority ends when the commission expires, so acts performed afterward are unauthorized regardless of intent.
A title company offers a notary a bonus for every closing where the notary skips verifying signer identification to save time. Accepting this arrangement is best described as what?
Answer: A breach of the notary's official duty that exposes the notary to liability and discipline
Identification of the signer is a core statutory duty that cannot be traded away for compensation.