15 Prohibited Notarial Acts that You Should Know

There may be some people who try to make notaries do things that they are not even aware are illegal for them to do. This is why it’s important to be knowledgeable about these things.

What Does Notarization Mean?

Notarization is the act of legitimating a document to confirm that it is indeed authentic as what the owner claims it to be.

Notarized documents are usually asked and required by government entities or certain firms in order to perform certain tasks that require the highest caliber of validity.

Who Does the Notarization?

The notarization is performed in front of and by a notary. This is a licensed person by the government in order to perform the tasks of witnessing documents to ensure that no fraudulent documents are used in government departments and companies.

What are these Prohibited Notarial Acts?

There are certain guidelines that should be followed by notaries, and these guidelines are made by the government. These guidelines are also in line with the state or country’s guidelines. Aside from informing notaries what they can and should do, they are also informed about what they can’t and shouldn’t do.

The public is protected from any fraud, and the notaries flourish in credibility as these exclusions are continuously applied.

It should be noted that the prohibited notarial acts are general acts that are usually not allowed by any government but it does not mean that every country in the world prohibits everything that is listed below.

There are countries, jurisdictions, or states that allow certain things.

1. No-Show of Signers
   Notaries are not allowed to forego a notarization if the signer of a document is not present and just has someone else to stand as their proxy.
   In other places, however, they allow this kind of notarization. It is still better to check with the concerned notary department in your country.
2. Notaries cannot start to officiate a notarization if a presented document has missing pages or has blanks in it when these should have been completed before or at the time of notarization.
3. If a document has a date that is a day after or a few days after or later than the day that it is going to be notarized, notaries cannot notarize it.
4. Notaries are not allowed to change the date on a notarial certificate (setting it to an earlier or later date).
5. If a notarial certificate is blank, notaries cannot sign or seal it.
6. Notaries are not allowed to proceed with the notarization if the signer of the document cannot present satisfactory evidence of identification.
7. If a document is just a copy and does not bear the signer’s signature in wet ink, notaries cannot possibly proceed in notarizing it. Faxed and photocopied documents are not allowed.
8. It is not possible for notaries to authenticate/validate objects; they only do this with documents.
9. A signer should not ask notaries for an advice or opinion because they are not allowed to do so as this is an act that should be performed by attorneys. If they do so, this will be called against them as an unlicensed practice of law.
10. If a notary is advertising services, they cannot do so in a foreign language without presenting a disclaimer to be clear that they are not an attorney.
11. Notaries are not allowed to have the English words “notary public” to be translated into any other language for the purpose of advertising notary services or any other purpose.
12. Notaries are not allowed to change their signatures from what appears on their official commission certificate issued by their government authority to something else.
13. If the signer of a document seems to be mentally incapable of understanding what they are doing, notaries will not proceed with it.
14. Notaries are not allowed to put information in a notarial certificate with the knowledge that the said information is false.
15. If the notaries have an idea, impression, or even knowledge that the transaction that will be done is illegal, they are not allowed to forego the notarization for the person.

Public Notary Services for Companies in Dubai

Regardless if you are an individual or part of a business entity, now can help you have a smoother and fast notarization. We will ensure that you will have a quicker turnaround time that will help you to obtain the notarized documents that you need on time or even before.

HHS Lawyers and Legal Consultants in Dubai operate for more than 10 years now. We specialize in different fields.

The notarization services that we offer is available for you anytime you need it. You only need to book a free consultation with one of our lawyers in Dubai today.