{"id":6929,"date":"2020-07-22T07:07:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T11:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/?p=6929"},"modified":"2020-07-22T07:08:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T11:08:06","slug":"notary-101-what-is-a-notary-and-what-does-a-notary-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/notary-101-what-is-a-notary-and-what-does-a-notary-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Notary 101: What Is a Notary and What Does a Notary Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalnotary.org\/notary-bulletin\/blog\/2017\/10\/2017-nna-census-notaries\">4.4 million notaries<\/a> in the U.S. This number continues to rise in 21 states.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you need a notary or do you want to become a notary?&nbsp;Are you wondering what does a notary do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If so, keep reading to find out what do notaries do and more about this profession and why it&#8217;s so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is a Notary?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A notary helps serve as an impartial witness to prevent fraud when signing important documents. The state government typically appoints this person.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notaries are expected to follow written rules.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does a Notary Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Notaries will witness and manage signatures for official documents. These duties include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Affirming the state of mind of all signees<\/li><li>Identifying any fraud<\/li><li>Documenting legal signatures<\/li><li>Verifying identities of all participants<\/li><li>Administering any needed oaths<\/li><li>Handling marriage certificates, contracts, loan documents, affidavits, and any other legal documents<\/li><li>Completing the notarial certificate on the documents<\/li><li>Maintaining a notary journal<\/li><li>Bearing witness to items&nbsp;added to&nbsp;a safe deposit box or something equivalent<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to these duties, the notary must be present at the document signing, so this could mean traveling and setting appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A notary must be impartial. This means they can&#8217;t act in personal matters. A notary can also not deny a person based on sex, religion, sexual orientation, race, or nationality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notaries certify that life-changing documents of citizens are executed properly.<br>Examples of these documents include powers of attorney, real estate transactions, and prenuptial agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Are Notaries Needed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Notarization helps deter fraud. It also helps determine that all signees are willing to sign a document and know what they are signing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This helps determine the signature is made willingly and by the person named on the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The notary asks for a current ID that has a photo and physical description. These IDs include a driver&#8217;s license or passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A notary is not an attorney or judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Become a Notary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are interested in becoming a notary, you will need to meet the eligibility requirements in your state. The processes do vary between states but typically include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Filling out an application<\/li><li>Paying the application fee<\/li><li>Taking a course (and sometimes passing an exam)<\/li><li>Filing your bond and oath<\/li><li>Buying your office supplies like <a href=\"https:\/\/creativerubberstamps.com\/collections\/notary-stamps\">notary stamps<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You will also have to take a background check. You also need to be a legal resident of your state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The skills to be a notary are similar to those of a legal secretary. These skills include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Record-keeping<\/li><li>Compliance<\/li><li>Verification<\/li><li>Flexibility<\/li><li>Knowledge of legal documents<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why many legal secretaries are also notaries. In addition, there is a need for notaries with loan officers and bankers. This is why many times people in these professions are also notaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Understanding Notary Duties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, you know the answer to what does a notary do? Notaries help prevent fraud by witnessing signatures, ensuring the parties understand what they are signing, and also verifying the identities of all parties involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are looking for more articles like this one, keep checking out our site for more information on business solutions including tips for running an office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Need forms or templates? You can also find a variety on our site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are more than 4.4 million notaries in the U.S. This number continues to rise in 21 states.&nbsp; Do you need a notary or do you want to become a notary?&nbsp;Are you wondering what does a notary do? If so, keep reading to find out what do notaries do and more about this profession and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6931,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6929\/revisions\/6931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}