MT Notary Notary Journal and Recordkeeping 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Montana law, how long must a notary retain the journal after the last entry or after resigning the commission?
- 1 year
- 5 years
- 10 years (Correct answer)
- Permanently
Correct answer: 10 years
Montana requires the journal to be retained for 10 years after the last notarial act recorded in it.
Question 2: If a Montana notary's journal is lost or stolen, the notary must:
- Simply start a new journal
- Promptly notify the Secretary of State (Correct answer)
- Notify the county clerk only
- Wait 30 days to see if it turns up
Correct answer: Promptly notify the Secretary of State
Montana notaries must promptly notify the Secretary of State if the journal is lost or stolen.
Question 3: A Montana notary is retiring and her commission is ending. What should she do with her journal?
- Burn it to protect signer privacy
- Give it to her employer
- Retain it for the required period or transmit it to an approved repository (Correct answer)
- Mail it to the county sheriff
Correct answer: Retain it for the required period or transmit it to an approved repository
On resignation or expiration, the notary must retain the journal for the retention period or transmit it to a repository approved by the Secretary of State.
Question 4: Upon the death or adjudicated incompetency of a Montana notary, who is responsible for the journal?
- No one — it may be discarded
- The notary's personal representative or guardian, who must follow retention/transmission rules (Correct answer)
- The notary's most recent client
- The local library
Correct answer: The notary's personal representative or guardian, who must follow retention/transmission rules
The personal representative or guardian must retain or transmit the journal as required by law.
Question 5: Who owns a Montana notary's journal when the notary performs notarizations as part of their job at a title company?
- The title company, as the employer
- The notary personally (Correct answer)
- The Secretary of State
- The clients whose documents were notarized
Correct answer: The notary personally
The journal is the exclusive property of the notary, not the employer, even if the employer paid for it.
Question 6: A former employer demands a departing notary surrender her journal. The notary should:
- Hand it over since it involves company documents
- Keep the journal, because it belongs to the notary alone (Correct answer)
- Split the pages relevant to the employer
- Photocopy everything for the employer including all entries
Correct answer: Keep the journal, because it belongs to the notary alone
The journal remains the notary's property and must stay in the notary's exclusive control when employment ends.
Question 7: Which practice best protects a Montana notary journal from unauthorized use?
- Leaving it on a shared office desk for convenience
- Keeping it under the notary's exclusive control, such as in a locked drawer (Correct answer)
- Letting coworkers make their own entries
- Storing it with the office receptionist
Correct answer: Keeping it under the notary's exclusive control, such as in a locked drawer
The journal must remain under the notary's exclusive control, and secure storage such as a locked drawer accomplishes this.
MT Notary Notary Journal and Recordkeeping 3
Under Montana law, how long must a notary retain the journal after the last entry or after resigning the commission?