AZ Notary - Arizona Notary Notarial Acts and Procedures Questions and Answers 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An individual presents a document for notarization and asks you to perform a jurat. The signer must perform which of the following actions in your presence?
- Acknowledge that they previously signed the document.
- Sign the document and swear or affirm to the truthfulness of its contents. (Correct answer)
- Provide two forms of identification.
- Certify that a copy of the document is a true and correct copy.
Correct answer: Sign the document and swear or affirm to the truthfulness of its contents.
A jurat requires the signer to sign the document in the notary's presence and to take an oath or affirmation that the statements in the document are true. An acknowledgment only requires the signer to appear and acknowledge their signature, which could have been made previously.
Question 2: A notary is asked to notarize a document for a signer who does not have an acceptable form of identification. However, the signer's coworker is present and is personally known to the notary. What is the correct procedure?
- Proceed with the notarization since the notary knows the coworker.
- Refuse the notarization because the signer lacks proper ID.
- Have the coworker sign an affidavit attesting to the signer's identity.
- Use the coworker as a credible witness, placing them under oath to verify the signer's identity. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Use the coworker as a credible witness, placing them under oath to verify the signer's identity.
Arizona law allows for the use of a credible witness to identify a signer who lacks other forms of satisfactory evidence of identity. If the notary personally knows the credible witness, that witness must be placed under oath or affirmation to swear to the identity of the signer.
Question 3: Which of the following is a prohibited act for an Arizona notary public?
- Notarizing a document on a federal holiday.
- Charging less than the maximum fee allowed by law.
- Notarizing a document in which the notary's spouse is a party and has a direct beneficial interest. (Correct answer)
- Keeping only one notary journal at a time.
Correct answer: Notarizing a document in which the notary's spouse is a party and has a direct beneficial interest.
According to Arizona Revised Statutes § 41-252(B), a notarial officer may not perform a notarial act with respect to a record to which the officer or the officer's spouse is a party or in which either of them has a direct beneficial interest. This is to ensure the notary remains an impartial witness.
Question 4: A client brings you a document titled "Affidavit of Support" that contains several blank spaces within the text. The client signs the document in front of you and asks you to perform a jurat. What should you do?
- Complete the jurat but make a note in your journal about the blank spaces.
- Advise the client on what information should be entered in the blanks before notarizing.
- Refuse to perform the jurat until all blank spaces are filled in by the signer. (Correct answer)
- Perform an acknowledgment instead of a jurat.
Correct answer: Refuse to perform the jurat until all blank spaces are filled in by the signer.
An Arizona notary is prohibited from performing a jurat on a document that is incomplete or contains blanks. This is because the signer is swearing to the truthfulness of the entire document's contents, and blanks could be filled in later, potentially fraudulently.
Question 5: An Arizona notary may perform all of the following notarial acts EXCEPT:
- Acknowledgment
- Jurat
- Certifying a copy of a birth certificate (Correct answer)
- Administering an oath or affirmation
Correct answer: Certifying a copy of a birth certificate
Arizona notaries are authorized to perform acknowledgments, jurats, copy certifications, and oaths or affirmations. However, they cannot perform a copy certification on a public record, such as a birth certificate, which must be obtained from the official issuing agency.
Question 6: When performing an acknowledgment, the primary purpose is for the notary to certify that the signer:
- Appeared before the notary and swore the contents of the document were true.
- Is competent and has the legal capacity to execute the document.
- Is the person they claim to be and willingly signed the document for its stated purpose. (Correct answer)
- Signed the document in the physical presence of the notary.
Correct answer: Is the person they claim to be and willingly signed the document for its stated purpose.
The core function of an acknowledgment is for the notary to verify the identity of the signer and to certify that the signer appeared before them and acknowledged that they signed the record willingly for the purposes stated within it. Unlike a jurat, the document does not have to be signed in the notary's presence, and no oath is administered regarding the document's contents.
AZ Notary - Arizona Notary Notarial Acts and Procedures Questions and Answers 1
An individual presents a document for notarization and asks you to perform a jurat.
The signer must perform which of the following actions in your presence?