MT Notary Notary Journal and Recordkeeping 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Montana law, when is a notary public required to maintain a journal of notarial acts?
- Only when notarizing real estate documents
- For every notarial act performed on a record (Correct answer)
- Only for remote online notarizations
- Journals are optional in all cases
Correct answer: For every notarial act performed on a record
Montana requires notaries to record every notarial act performed on a record in a journal.
Question 2: How many journals may a Montana notary keep at one time for tangible (paper) records?
- One (Correct answer)
- Two
- Up to five
- Unlimited
Correct answer: One
A Montana notary may maintain only one tangible journal at a time for notarial acts on tangible records.
Question 3: A Montana notary's paper journal must be:
- Loose-leaf so pages can be added
- A permanent, bound register with numbered pages (Correct answer)
- Any notebook the notary chooses
- Kept only in electronic form
Correct answer: A permanent, bound register with numbered pages
A tangible journal must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages to prevent tampering.
Question 4: Which of the following is a required entry in a Montana notary journal?
- The signer's Social Security number
- The fee charged, if any (Correct answer)
- The signer's date of birth
- The reason the document is needed
Correct answer: The fee charged, if any
Montana requires the journal to record the fee charged, if any, along with the date, type of act, document description, and signer information.
Question 5: A signer asks the notary to write her full Social Security number in the journal for identification. The notary should:
- Comply, since more detail is better
- Refuse, because journals must not contain sensitive identifying numbers (Correct answer)
- Record only the last four digits
- Record it but redact it later
Correct answer: Refuse, because journals must not contain sensitive identifying numbers
Notary journals should never contain Social Security numbers or other sensitive data, since journals may be inspected or copied.
Question 6: When must a Montana notary make the journal entry for a notarial act?
- Contemporaneously with performing the act (Correct answer)
- Within 10 business days
- At the end of each month
- Whenever convenient
Correct answer: Contemporaneously with performing the act
The journal entry must be made contemporaneously — at the time the notarial act is performed.
Question 7: How did the notary identify the signer — where does this belong?
- It is not recorded anywhere
- In the journal entry, describing the method of identification (Correct answer)
- Only in the notarial certificate
- On a separate sticky note in the journal
Correct answer: In the journal entry, describing the method of identification
The journal entry must describe how the signer was identified, such as personal knowledge or the type of ID credential presented.
MT Notary Notary Journal and Recordkeeping 2
Under Montana law, when is a notary public required to maintain a journal of notarial acts?