A notary public is a state-appointed official who serves as an impartial witness to the signing of important documents, verifying signers’ identities and confirming they’re signing willingly in order to deter fraud. Notaries can perform specific acts, acknowledgments, jurats, oaths, and copy certifications – but cannot give legal advice, notarize their own signature, or act when they have a financial interest in the document.
What Is a Notary Public?
A notary public is a state-appointed official who serves as an impartial, third-party witness when important documents are signed, verifying the signer’s identity and confirming they’re signing willingly. The role exists specifically to deter fraud: when a notary applies their seal and signature, it provides what’s legally called prima facie proof – accepted as legitimate unless someone proves otherwise – that identity was verified and the signing was voluntary.
Because a notary is a state officer, their appointment and authority come from the state government – depending on the state, appointment power sits with the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, or the state legislature. A notary’s authority is generally confined to their home state unless they hold a commission in another state as well, or the two states have a reciprocity agreement.
Nearly every adult in the U.S. will need a notary at some point in their life, whether for a real estate closing, a power of attorney, a sworn statement filed with a court, or something as routine as a vehicle title transfer. The common thread across all of these situations is that either the law itself, or one of the parties involved, wants independent verification of who actually signed and whether they meant to.
What Powers Does a Notary Public Have?
A notary public is authorized to perform a specific set of notarial acts defined by state law – typically acknowledgments, jurats, oaths and affirmations, verifications on oath, witnessing signatures, and copy certifications – with the exact list varying somewhat by state.
Acknowledgments: confirming a signer appeared, is who they claim to be, and that the signature is theirs.
Jurats: administering an oath and witnessing a signer swear or affirm that a document’s contents are true.
Oaths and affirmations: administering a formal promise, separate from a full jurat, for various legal purposes.
Verifications upon oath: confirming a signer swore to the truth of a specific statement.
Witnessing or attesting signatures: observing and certifying that a specific signature was made in the notary’s presence.
Copy certifications: certifying that a photocopy is a true and accurate copy of an original document, where state law allows it.
Many states adopted a common framework for these powers through the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) – Pennsylvania, for example, formally authorized six notarial acts under RULONA effective October 26, 2017, a structure that closely mirrors what most other states recognize today.
For an acknowledgment specifically, the notary must determine – from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence – both that the person appearing before them has the identity they claim and that the signature on the document actually belongs to that person. This two-part check is what separates a real notarization from simply watching someone sign something.
What Can’t a Notary Public Do?
A notary’s authority is deliberately narrow, and the limits trip people up more than the powers do: a notary cannot notarize their own signature, cannot act when they have a financial interest in the document, and cannot give legal advice of any kind, even informally.
- Cannot notarize their own signature – a notary can never be both the notary and the signer on the same document.
- Cannot act with a financial interest or as a named party – conflict-of-interest rules require a notary to remain a disinterested party; many states extend this to close family members like spouses, parents, and children, though exact rules vary by state.
- Cannot give legal advice – a notary can’t explain what a document means, advise whether to sign it, suggest changes to legal language, or draft legal documents; doing so would constitute the unauthorized practice of law.
- Cannot notarize without the signer present – personal appearance (in person or via live video for RON) is a strict requirement, not a formality.
- Cannot choose which notarial act to perform – that decision belongs to the document or the requesting party, not the notary.
- Cannot represent themselves as an attorney – using a title like “notario público,” which implies legal or immigration expertise in many countries, is illegal in the U.S. and a well-documented source of fraud targeting immigrant communities.
Some states extend the conflict-of-interest rules even further, disqualifying stockholders, directors, officers, or employees of a bank or corporation from notarizing documents where the notary is acting as a representative of that institution. Other states take a lighter approach, allowing an employee to notarize for their employer as long as the only compensation involved is their regular salary plus the standard notary fee – the exact line varies enough by state that it’s worth checking local rules before assuming either way.
Who Appoints a Notary Public, and How?
Becoming a notary is generally a state-level process: in roughly 32 states, the core requirement is simply filling out an application and paying a fee, while other states layer on additional requirements like a training course, an exam, or a bond, particularly for notaries seeking online notarization authority.
Most states also run background checks as part of the commissioning process, and many require a surety bond protecting the public against errors or misconduct. Because requirements vary this much state to state, someone commissioned easily in one state might face meaningfully more steps applying in another, even for the same basic traditional commission.
Commissions also aren’t permanent – states set a fixed term, commonly somewhere between four and ten years depending on the state, after which a notary must renew, often repeating at least part of the original application process. Letting a commission lapse means the notary can no longer legally perform notarial acts until they’ve reapplied and been recommissioned, regardless of how long they previously held the role.
How Does an Online Notary Public Differ From a Traditional One?
An online notary public performs the exact same notarial acts as a traditional notary – acknowledgments, jurats, oaths – but does so over live video instead of in person, after completing separate state authorization for remote online notarization on top of their base commission.
- Upload your document to the notarization platform.
- Verify your identity through a government ID scan and a knowledge-based or biometric check.
- Join a live video session with a notary commissioned to perform remote online notarizations.
- Sign your document on camera while the notary witnesses the act electronically.
- Receive your notarized document, complete with a tamper-evident digital certificate.
The underlying legal principles – impartiality, identity verification, personal appearance – remain identical to an in-person notarization; only the delivery method changes.
To notarize documents online, BlueNotary’s remote online notarization sessions typically take about 10 minutes and start at $25 for one signer and one stamp.
See the full notarization process walkthrough for what to have ready before your session starts.
Not sure which notarial act your specific document needs? Email BlueNotary directly at [email protected] and the team will help you out.
FAQ Section
Q1. What is a notary public?
A state-appointed official who serves as an impartial witness to document signings, verifying identity and willingness to sign in order to deter fraud.
Q2. What powers does a notary public have?
Notaries can typically perform acknowledgments, jurats, oaths and affirmations, verifications on oath, signature witnessing, and copy certifications, depending on state law.
Q3. Can a notary give legal advice?
No. A notary cannot explain a document’s meaning, advise whether to sign, or draft legal documents, since that would be the unauthorized practice of law.
Q4. Can a notary notarize their own signature?
No. A notary can never be both the notary and the signer on the same document.
Q5. Does a notary have to be present when you sign?
Yes. Personal appearance, either in person or via live video for online notarization, is a strict legal requirement, not a formality.
Q6. How is an online notary public different from a traditional one?
They perform the same notarial acts but do so over live video after completing separate state authorization for remote online notarization.
