Legal and Ethical Responsibilities Flashcards
7 cards from real WV NOTARY practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Legal and Ethical Responsibilities flashcards as text
A WV notary's neighbor asks them to notarize a will and explain what the residuary clause means. The notary may:
Answer: Notarize the signature but decline to explain the legal terms
The notary may perform the notarization but explaining legal terms would be unauthorized practice of law.
Under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) as adopted in West Virginia, a notary may refuse to perform a notarial act if:
Answer: The notary is not satisfied the signer is competent or acting voluntarily
RULONA expressly authorizes refusal when the notary doubts the signer's competence, willingness, or knowledge of the transaction.
A WV notary performed a notarization for a document later used in a lawsuit. The signer claims coercion. What best protects the notary from liability?
Answer: A contemporaneous journal entry documenting the act and ID used
A detailed journal record is the notary's strongest evidence that the act was performed properly.
A WV notary is offered $50 to notarize documents for a mobile signing. The notary's base notarial fee is capped, so the extra amount:
Answer: May be charged as a travel fee if agreed upon with the signer in advance
A notary may charge an additional travel fee if the signer agrees to it before the service is performed.
A WV notary realizes after the fact that they notarized a document for a signer whose ID had expired years earlier. The most ethical course is to:
Answer: Document the error, and require proper identification before any corrective re-notarization
Errors should be documented honestly and corrected through a new, properly performed notarization rather than concealed or altered.
Which of the following is a notary public in West Virginia legally permitted to do?
Answer: Administer an oath to a witness
Administering oaths and affirmations is a core notarial power, while choosing certificates for signers or preparing legal documents is not.
A lender asks a WV notary to notarize a stack of loan documents that were pre-signed by borrowers who left the office an hour earlier. The notary should refuse because:
Answer: Acknowledgments require the signer to personally appear before the notary at the time of the notarial act
Every notarial act requires the signer's personal appearance before the notary at the time of notarization, even for acknowledgments of prior signatures.