MT Notary Ethics and Professional Conduct 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Montana notary is asked to notarize a deed in which the notary is named as the grantee. What must the notary do?
- Refuse to perform the notarization because of a disqualifying interest (Correct answer)
- Perform it but note the conflict in the journal
- Perform it if a co-worker witnesses the signing
- Perform it only if the grantor consents in writing
Correct answer: Refuse to perform the notarization because of a disqualifying interest
Montana law prohibits a notary from notarizing a document in which the notary is a party or has a direct beneficial interest.
Question 2: A signer offers a Montana notary a $50 tip for notarizing a single acknowledgment. What is the most ethical response?
- Decline any amount above the maximum statutory fee (Correct answer)
- Accept it since tips are separate from fees
- Accept it if the signer insists twice
- Accept half of it as a compromise
Correct answer: Decline any amount above the maximum statutory fee
Montana caps notarial fees by statute, and accepting more than the allowed fee is improper even if offered voluntarily as a tip.
Question 3: A Montana notary's employer instructs her to notarize a stack of documents signed earlier by employees who have left for the day. What should she do?
- Refuse because the signers are not personally appearing before her (Correct answer)
- Comply because the employer paid for her commission
- Notarize only the documents she recognizes the signatures on
- Notarize them but backdate the certificates
Correct answer: Refuse because the signers are not personally appearing before her
Personal appearance of the signer at the time of notarization is required, and an employer's instruction never overrides this duty.
Question 4: A friend asks a Montana notary to explain which type of certificate—acknowledgment or jurat—his document needs. The notary is not an attorney. What should the notary do?
- Ask the signer to choose or consult the document's issuing agency or an attorney (Correct answer)
- Pick the certificate the notary thinks fits best
- Refuse to notarize the document entirely
- Always attach a jurat since it is the stricter form
Correct answer: Ask the signer to choose or consult the document's issuing agency or an attorney
Selecting the notarial act for a signer constitutes the unauthorized practice of law, so the signer or a qualified professional must decide.
Question 5: Which action by a non-attorney Montana notary most clearly constitutes the unauthorized practice of law?
- Preparing and advising on an immigration form for a fee (Correct answer)
- Completing a notarial certificate the signer selected
- Recording the notarization in a journal
- Charging the statutory fee for an oath
Correct answer: Preparing and advising on an immigration form for a fee
Preparing legal documents or giving advice about them, including immigration paperwork, is the practice of law reserved for licensed attorneys.
Question 6: A Montana notary discovers a document contains blank spaces where key terms should appear. The signer asks her to notarize it anyway. What should she do?
- Decline until the blanks are completed or lined through by the signer (Correct answer)
- Notarize it and fill in the blanks later herself
- Notarize it since content is not her responsibility
- Notarize it but photocopy the document as protection
Correct answer: Decline until the blanks are completed or lined through by the signer
Notarizing a document with material blanks invites fraud, so the signer must complete or strike the blanks before notarization.
Question 7: May a Montana notary advertise notarial services in Spanish using the term 'notario público'?
- No, because the term implies attorney-like authority and is misleading (Correct answer)
- Yes, as long as the fee schedule is posted
- Yes, if the notary speaks fluent Spanish
- No, unless the advertisement runs only online
Correct answer: No, because the term implies attorney-like authority and is misleading
In many Spanish-speaking countries a 'notario' is a licensed legal professional, so the term misleads consumers about a U.S. notary's limited role.
MT Notary Ethics and Professional Conduct 2
A Montana notary is asked to notarize a deed in which the notary is named as the grantee.
What must the notary do?