Notary Public Underwriters Blog
Prefilling Record Book (Journal) Entries: A Practice to Avoid
- Details
- Published: November 11, 2024
If you don’t consider your record book (journal) of notarial acts to be as valuable a notary tool as your official notary stamp or seal, it’s time to freshen-up your point of view.
Time and again, a notary’s properly-maintained record book of notarial acts has resolved disputes or conflicting memories of transactions involving a past notarization. For example:
- A person’s denial that they signed a particular document can be debunked by their own signature appearing in the officiating notary’s record book entry for that notarization.
- An attempt to discredit a notary by claiming that they notarized for an imposter can be disproven by both the correct person’s signature in the record book entry, and details of the person’s ID credentials that the notary personally examined.
- A notary’s notes in a journal record about why they did not complete a notarization (perhaps the named signer did not appear to comprehend the proceedings, or appeared to be under duress) would refresh the notary’s memory if the notary’s actions are questioned.
To ensure the highest level of accuracy, a record book entry should only be made at the time a notarial act is performed. Only during the notarial act will the principal be personally present, so that the notary may perform all the required steps and formalities of notarization.
What if the notary forgets to cancel/strike-out a prefilled entry for an appointment that was ultimately cancelled? That prefilled entry would later appear to be a poorly executed entry for a notarial act since it would lack the named signer’s signature.
Prefilling a record book entry only sets a notary up to have less-than-reliable entries. Handle your record book like the star notary tool that it is, and create complete records of your notarial acts only at the time that you actually perform them.
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