Notary Public Underwriters Blog
Notarization Tips: Don't Keep Copies of Notarized Documents, Use a Record Book (Journal)
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- Published: September 30, 2024
Understandably, notaries can be quite concerned about the accuracy of their notarial acts.
Across America, notarization is governed by layers of state law, administrative rules and any additional requirements of each state's official who commissions notaries public.
A notary's duty to understand the full scope of applicable laws, rules and guidelines they must follow is a serious responsibility. Remembering all the procedural requirements of notarization, every time a notarization is performed, is an equally serious responsibility.
Notaries, don’t do this:
- To ease their own worries, some notaries want to be able to "prove" that a notarization they performed was not flawed. They actually make and keep a copy of the document or documents they just notarized. These notaries might keep a copy of the entire document, or they might keep only a copy of the signature page containing their completed notarial certificate.
Notaries should never keep copies of customers' documents if the only purpose is to later "prove" the accuracy of their notarial act(s). Keeping just a copy of the page containing your completed notarial certificate is also strongly discouraged. Your involvement with your customer's document ends once the notarization is completed.
There are logical exceptions. For example, an employee notary might notarize a coworker's signature, then must perform some work-related function like processing or filing the document containing that notarial act.
But clearly, when notarizing for the general public, it would be a violation of privacy to keep copies of notarized documents, even if you ask for only the document's signature page containing your notarial certificate. "Copies" refers to any method used to create a copy, such as using a copying machine, taking a photo with a cell phone, scanning, etc.
There is, of course, a recommended way for notaries to keep reliable, authoritative records of their notarial acts. Every notary should record every notarial act they perform in a notary record book (journal). Time and again, a notary's entry in their record book (journal)—whether the practice was required by their commissioning/appointing state or not—has been the evidence that protected the notary against false or mistaken claims of improper notarial procedure.
Don't violate your customers' privacy by keeping copies of their notarized documents solely because you want to later "prove" the accuracy of your notarial acts. Keep records the right way by recording all notarial acts in a record book (journal) created for that purpose.
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