Prohibited and Permissible Acts Flashcards

A church member asks the Montana notary, a fellow congregant, to notarize a will and 'make sure it's legal.' The notary may:

Answer: Notarize the signature if all requirements are met, but not opine on the will's legality

The notary may perform the notarial act but giving assurance about legal validity would be unauthorized practice of law.

A Montana notary receives a document by email, prints it, and the signer appears via FaceTime from another town. The notary has NOT registered for remote notarization. Notarizing this way is:

Answer: Prohibited; remote online notarization requires meeting Montana's technology and notification requirements first

Montana authorizes remote notarization only through approved communication technology after the notary satisfies statutory requirements, not via ordinary video chat apps ad hoc.

A landlord offers a Montana notary a commission split for referring tenants to his rental service whenever they come in for notarizations. Accepting referral kickbacks tied to notarial services is:

Answer: Improper, as it exploits the notarial office for personal gain and undermines impartiality

Leveraging the notarial office for undisclosed personal profit compromises the impartiality the commission requires and can constitute misconduct.

A Montana notary suspects a document is part of a scam targeting an elderly signer, though the signer seems willing. The notary's best course is to:

Answer: Refuse the notarization, as a notary may decline when there is reason to believe the transaction is fraudulent or the signer is being exploited

A notary is permitted to refuse a notarial act and should do so when there are reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or exploitation.

The signer already signed an acknowledgment document yesterday at home. Today he personally appears before the Montana notary with valid ID and acknowledges the signature. The notary may:

Answer: Proceed, because an acknowledgment permits a prior signature so long as the signer personally appears and acknowledges it

For acknowledgments, the signature may predate the appearance; the signer need only appear and acknowledge signing willingly, unlike a jurat, which requires signing in the notary's presence.

A Montana notary performing a jurat forgets to administer the oath but completes the certificate anyway. This is:

Answer: A prohibited false certificate, because the certificate attests that an oath was administered

A jurat certificate states an oath or affirmation was administered, so completing it without doing so is certifying falsely.

May a Montana notary notarize documents on a Sunday or a legal holiday?

Answer: Yes, Montana law does not restrict the days or hours a notarial act may be performed

There is no statutory restriction on when a notarial act may be performed, so weekend and holiday notarizations are permissible.