Maine Secretary of State Notary Public Course of Study

Maine Secretary of State

Notary Public Course of Study

Course of Study Objectives

 To help you better understand your role as a Maine

Notarial Officer.

 To help you understand how to perform a traditional

in-person notarization vs. remote or electronic

notarizations.

 To increase your knowledge of the new Revised

Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) which

was adopted on July 1, 2023.

Role of the Secretary of State

 The Secretary of State cannot provide legal

advice.

 The role of the Secretary of State is limited to the

appointment and commissioning of notaries

public.

 The Secretary of State cannot determine the

validity of a notarized document.

What is a Notary Public?

A Notary Public is an official of integrity

commissioned by the Secretary of State to

serve the public as an impartial witness to

the identity, comprehension, and intent of a

person requesting a notarial act.

Definitions

 “Notary public” means an individual commissioned to perform a notarial act by the Secretary of State.

 “Notarial officer” means a notary public commissioned by the Secretary of State; a judge, justice, clerk

or deputy clerk of a court of this State; or an attorney-at-law duly admitted and eligible to practice in the

courts of this State; and any other individual authorized by the laws of this State to perform a specific

notarial act.

 “Electronic notarization” means a Maine notarial officer’s performance of a notarial act with respect to

an electronic record, using an electronic signature and an electronic official stamp.

 “Remote notarization” means a notarial act performed by a notarial officer for a remotely located

individual using communication technology approved by the Secretary of State.

 “Electronic record” means a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by

electronic means.

 “Credible witness” means an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows an individual

appearing before a notarial officer and takes an oath or affirmation before the notarial officer to vouch for

that individual’s identity.

Definitions Continued

 “Notarial act" means an act, whether performed with respect to a tangible or electronic record, that a

notarial officer may perform under the laws of this State.

 "Official stamp" means a physical image affixed to or embossed on a tangible record or an electronic

image attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and includes an official notary seal.

 "Signature" means a tangible symbol or an electronic signature that evidences the signing of a record.

 "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or

other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

 "Stamping device" means a physical device capable of affixing to or embossing on a tangible record an

official stamp or an electronic device or process capable of attaching to or logically associating with an

electronic record an official stamp.

 “Direct beneficial interest” for purposes of defining a conflict of interest under 4 M.R.S. § 1904(3)(B),

means a fee other than the customary fee for performance of the notarial act, or any advantage, right,

title, interest, cash, property or other consideration received in connection with the record.

 “Dedimus Justice” is an officer who performs a single function of swearing in various public officials,

including Notaries Public in Maine.

Qualifications of a Notary Public

 Be at least 18 years of age;

 Be a resident of or have a place of employment or

practice in this State;

 Be able to read and write English;

 Have passed the examination administered by the

Secretary of State; and

 Not be disqualified to receive a commission under

4 M.R.S section 1924;

Grounds to Deny, Refuse to Renew, Revoke, Suspend or

Condition Commission of Notary Public

 Failure to comply with RULONA;

 Making a fraudulent, dishonest or deceitful statement or omission in the

application for a notary public commission submitted to the Secretary of State;

 A conviction of any crime punishable by one year or more of imprisonment or a

crime involving fraud, dishonesty or deceit;

 A finding against, or admission of liability in any legal proceeding or

disciplinary action based on the applicant's or notary public's fraud, dishonesty

or deceit;

 Failure to discharge any duty required of a notary public, by law or rules of the

Secretary of State or any federal or state law;

 Use of false or misleading advertising or representing that the notary public has

a duty, right or privilege that the notary public does not have;

 Violation of a rule of the Secretary of State regarding a notary public;

 Denial, refusal to renew, revocation, suspension or conditioning of a notary

public commission in another state; or

 Violation of Title 21-A, section 903-E. (Notary public providing services for

initiative petition of people’s veto in addition to notarial acts)

Maine notaries public may perform notarial acts anywhere

within the boundaries of the State of Maine.

Maine notaries may not perform notarial acts outside of

Maine.

Reminder: Even when a notarial officer is approved by the

Secretary of State to do electronic and remote notarizations,

the notarial officer must always be in the State of Maine when

the transaction occurs.

Jurisdiction

Conflict of Interest

A notary public may not perform a notarial act:

 For any person if that person is the notary’s spouse,

domestic partner, parent, sibling or child or an in-law or

a step or half relative.

 For a record to which the notary or the notary’s spouse,

domestic partner, parent, sibling or child or an in-law or

a step or half relative is a party or in which any of them

has a direct beneficial interest.

Avoiding Prohibited Acts

 Do not draft any legal documents or provide legal advice unless you are

an Attorney.

 Do not act as an immigration consultant or an expert on immigration

matters.

 Do not advertise your services using the title “notario” or “notario

publico”

 If you are advertising your services as a notary public, you must include

this statement:

"I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in this State. I am not

allowed to draft legal records, give advice on legal matters, including

immigration, or charge a fee for those activities."

 Do not notarize any record or document without personal appearance.

 Do not perform any notarial act for a spouse, domestic partner, parent,

sibling or child or an in-law or step or half relative.

Avoiding Prohibited Acts Continued

 Do not perform any notarial act with respect to a record to which the

notarial officer or spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child or an

in-law or step or half relative is a party or in which any of them has

direct beneficial interest.

 Do not take the acknowledgement of an instrument by or to a bank or

other corporation of which the notarial officer is a stockholder, director,

officer or employee when the notarial officer is a party to the

instrument, either individually of as a representative of the bank or other

corporation.

 Do not administer an oath or affirmation to a circulator of a petition for

a direct initiative or people’s veto referendum if the notarial officer

also provides other services to initiate or promote the initiative or

people’s veto.

 Do not make or note a protest of a negotiable instrument unless the

notarial officer is an employee of a financial institution acting in the

course and scope of the notarial officer’s employment with the financial

institution.

1. Personal Knowledge - The notarial officer has personal knowledge of the identity of the individual

appearing before them.

2. Evidence of Identity - The notarial officer has satisfactory evidence of the identity of the individual

appearing before the officer if the officer can identify the individual by:

 A passport, driver's license or government-issued nondriver identification card; or

 Another form of government identification issued to an individual that contains the signature or a

photograph of the individual and is satisfactory to the notarial officer; or

3. Credible Witness - By a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing

before the notarial officer and known to the officer or whom the officer can identify based on a passport,

driver’s license or government-issued nondriver identification card.

Keep in mind that a notarial officer may require an individual to provide additional identification

credentials necessary to assure the officer of the identity of the individual.

Acceptable Forms of Identification

A notarial officer MUST maintain a journal for all electronic and

remote notarizations.

A journal is not required for in-person paper notarizations. However,

the Secretary of State strongly suggests that you maintain a journal for

of all notarial acts.

A journal may be created in a permanent, bound register which

contains page numbers or in an electronic format, which must be in a

permanent, tamper-evident electronic format complying with the rules

of the Secretary of State.

For all in-person paper notarizations: You may only keep one

journal at any one time.

For all remote and electronic notarizations: You are permitted to

keep more than one journal at the same time.

Journal Requirements

The entry in a journal must be made contemporaneously with performance of

the notarial act and contain the following information:

 The date and time of the notarial act;

 A description of the record, if any, and type of notarial act;

 The full name and address of each individual for whom the notarial act is

performed;

 If the identity of the individual is based on personal knowledge, a

statement to that effect;

 If the identity of the individual is based on satisfactory evidence, a brief

description of the method of identification and the identification credential

presented, if any, including the dates of issuance and expiration of any

identification credential; and

 The fee, if any, charged by the notarial officer.

Journals must be retained for 10 years after the performance of the last

notarial act recorded in the journal.

Additional Journal Requirements

A notarial act regarding an in-person paper record does not require the

use of a notary public stamp. However, the Secretary of State strongly

suggests that a notary stamp be used on all notarizations, unless the

use of the stamp is prohibited.

However, use of a notary public stamp is required on all electronic or

remote notarizations.

A notary public’s official notary stamp must include:

 The Notary Public’s name as it appears on their commission

 The words “Notary Public” and “State of Maine” or “Maine”

 The Notary Public’s commission expiration date

The notary stamp must be capable of being copied together with the

record to which it is affixed or attached or logically associated.

Notary Public Official Stamp Requirements

Reasons Why a Notary Should Not Act

 The signer is not in your presence.

 You cannot identify the signer through accepted forms of identification or if they

are not personally known to you.

 There is reason to believe that the signer does not understand the consequences of

the transaction or record being notarized.

 The signer is not acting of their free will.

 The record presented for copy certification is a vital record, public record or a

publicly recorded document that is available as a certified copy from an official

source other than a notary public.

 You are a party to or are named in the record except for the sole purpose of

receiving notices relating to the document.

 The signer is an immediate family member of the notary public.

 The record or notarial certificate contains information known by the notary to be

false.

You Should Not Refuse To Act Because…

 Of your feelings about a person's race, age, gender, sexual orientation,

religion, national origin, health or disability.

 The document that is presented to you is in a language you do not understand.

 You do not have time to perform the notarization, or you just do not want to.

Remember, you can offer your services at a different time if you

cannot perform the notarization at the time it is requested.

Maine’s Authorized Notarial Acts

Acknowledgement

A declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that the individual has

signed a record for the purpose stated in the record and if the record is signed in

a representative capacity, that the individual signed the record with proper

authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the

record.

A notarial officer who takes an acknowledgment of a record shall determine,

from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the

individual, that the individual appearing before the officer and making the

acknowledgment has the identity claimed and that the signature on the record is

the signature of the individual.

Reminder: Even though for an acknowledgment the individual may sign the

record before notarization or during it, Personal Appearance before the notary

is still required!

Steps for an Acknowledgment:

1. Require personal appearance of the person acknowledging their

signature.

2. Verify the identity of the individual, if not personally known to you.

3. Review the individual’s signature if the record is already signed; or

require the individual to sign the record in your presence if the record

is not yet signed.

4. Take the individual’s acknowledgement by asking, “Do you

acknowledge signing this record willingly, for the purposes stated in

it?”

5. Complete the notarial certificate.

6. Record the notarial act in your journal. Although using a journal is not

required on all notarizations in Maine, we strongly suggest that you

record the details of all notarial acts requested.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

State of Maine

County of _____________________

This record was acknowledged before me this _______day of__________,

20_____ by (Name(s) of Person(s) Acknowledging).

Signature of Notarial Officer

Stamped or Printed Name of Notarial Officer

Title of Notarial Officer, State of Maine

My commission expires: ____________

Verification on Oath or Affirmation (Jurat)

A declaration made by an individual on oath or affirmation before a notarial officer that

a statement in a record is true.

A notarial officer who takes a verification of a statement on oath or affirmation shall

determine, from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the

individual, that the individual appearing before the officer and making the verification

has the identity claimed and that the signature on the statement verified is the signature

of the individual.

The difference between an oath or an affirmation is the nature of the individual’s

spoken pledge, which should be left up to the individual:

• An oath is a spoken pledge to God or to a higher power.

•An affirmation is a spoken pledge made on the individual’s personal honor.

Steps for a Verification on Oath or Affirmation:

1. Require personal appearance of the person swearing the oath or making the

affirmation.

2. Verify the identity of the individual, if not personally known to you.

3. Require the individual to sign the record in your presence. If the record is

already signed, it must be signed again in your presence.

4. Ask the individual to raise their right hand, to emphasize the seriousness of the

process.

5. Administer the oath or affirmation by asking the individual to swear to or affirm

the truthfulness of their statement. For an oath, ask “Do you solemnly swear the

contents of this document are true, so help you God?” For an affirmation, ask

“Do you affirm the contents of this document are true?”

6. Complete the notarial certificate.

7. Record the notarial act in your journal. Although using a journal is not required

on all notarizations in Maine, we strongly suggest that you record the details of

all notarial acts requested.

OATH OR AFFIRMATION (JURAT)

State of Maine

County of _____________________

Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me this _______day

of__________, 20_____ by (Name of Person Making Statement).

Signature of Notarial Officer

Stamped or Printed Name of Notarial Officer

Title of Notarial Officer, State of Maine

My commission expires: ____________

Witnessing or Attesting to a Signature

A notary public who witnesses or attests to a signature determines,

from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of

the individual, that the individual appearing before the notary and

signing the record has the identity claimed. No verbal ceremony is

necessary for witnessing or attesting to a signature.

Steps for Witnessing or Attesting to a Signature:

1. Require personal appearance of the person signing the record.

2. Verify the identity of the individual, if not personally known to

you.

3. Require the individual to sign the record in your presence. If the

record is already signed, it must be signed again in your presence.

4. Complete the notarial certificate.

5. Record the notarial act in your journal. Although using a journal is

not required on all notarizations in Maine, we strongly suggest

that you record the details of all notarial acts requested.

WITNESSING OR ATTESTING TO A SIGNATURE

State of Maine

County of _____________________

Signed (or attested) before me this _______day of__________, 20_____ by

(Name of Person Making Signing).

Signature of Notarial Officer

Stamped or Printed Name of Notarial Officer

Title of Notarial Officer, State of Maine

My commission expires: _______

Certifying or Attesting a Copy of a Record

A notary public who certifies or attests a copy of a record or an item that was

copied determines that the copy is full, true and an accurate transcription or

reproduction of the record or item.

Please note: The notary public is not guaranteeing the authenticity of the record

presented for copying, its contents, or it effects. Nor is the notary public taking an

oath or affirmation or making an acknowledgement. Instead, the notary public is

simply stating in the notarial certificate that the notary made, or witnessed being

made, a “true” copy of the record that was presented (or carefully compared a

copy to the original and found it to be full, true and accurate).

A notary public is not authorized to make any certified or attested copies of

public records or vital records. A notarial officer may not certify a copy of any

record that states on its face that it is illegal to make copies of the document.

Steps for certifying or attesting a copy of record:

1. Verify the record custodian’s identity, if not personally known to

you.

2. Observe whether the record is an original. (Must not be a public

record or vital record).

3. Personally make the copy or witness the making of the

photocopy.

4. Complete, sign and securely attach the notarial certificate to the

photocopy using a staple, which would leave some indication of

tampering if removed.

5. Record the notarial act in your journal. Although using a journal

is not required on all notarizations in Maine, we strongly suggest

that you record the details of all notarial acts requested.

CERTIFYING OR ATTESTING A COPY OF RECORD

State of Maine

County of __________________

On this ______day of _________, 20___, I certify that the attached record is a true, exact,

complete, and unaltered photocopy made by me of (Description of Record)

, presented to

me by the document’s custodian (Person Presenting Record)

, and, to the best of my

knowledge, that the original record is neither a vital or public record.

Signature of Notarial Officer

Stamped or Printed Name of Notarial Officer

Title of Notarial Officer, State of Maine

My commission expires: ____________

State of Maine

County of __________________

On this ______day of _________, 20___, I certify that I carefully compared the attached

copy of (Description of Record

) with the original presented to me by the document’s

custodian (Person Presenting Record)

, and it is an exact, complete, unaltered copy of the

original record.

Signature of Notarial Officer

Stamped or Printed Name of Notarial Officer

Title of Notarial Officer, State of Maine

My commission expires: ____________

Common Notarial Errors

 The signer did not personally appear before the notary.

 The notary did not properly identify the signer.

 The notary did not screen for willingness and

competency of the signer.

 The notary failed to perform the verbal oath or

affirmation.

 The notary did not attach a notarial certificate.

 The notarial certificate was left incomplete.



Fees For Notarial Services

The State of Maine does not statutorily set fees for notarial

services. Any fee to be charged by a commissioned notary

public for performing a notarial act must be disclosed in

writing to the individual requesting the services of the notary

public before the notarial act is performed and the notary

public must obtain the individual’s agreement to any fee to be

charged prior to performing the notarial act.

Secretary of State suggests that notaries adopt a fee schedule to be

provided when notarial services are requested.

Before a notarial officer can perform a remote notarization

or a notarial act with respect to an electronic document or

using an electronic signature, the notarial officer must

complete and submit the “Notice to Perform Electronic and/or

Remote Online Notarizations” form to the Secretary of State

and must receive approval by the Secretary of State.

Electronic Or Remote Notarizations Requirements

 The name(s) of the provider(s) of technology APPROVED by the Secretary of

State that the notarial officer has selected to use;

 A certification from each provider of technology confirming that the notarial officer

has received training in the use of that technology and has been approved as a

user of that technology;

 A certification by the notarial officer that the officer has read and understands the

requirements of 4 M.R.S. chapter 39 and the administrative rules; and

 An example of the notarial officer’s electronic signature and official electronic

stamp.

Additional Requirements for

Approval By Secretary of State To Do

Electronic or Remote Notarizations

Your Notary Public commission, any notary stamp or

journal belongs to you, not to your employer, even if

your employer has paid for these!

If a notary stamp or journal is lost or stolen, the

officer must promptly notify the Secretary of State!

Should A Notary Public Act As Both A Witness and a

Notary Public on a Document?

As a general guideline, the office of the attorney general has

advised the Secretary of State that a notary public should not

act as both a witness and as a notary public for the same

transaction.

WHAT IS AN APOSTILLE OR AUTHENTICATION?

These are certifications issued by the Secretary of State that authenticate the

authority of the Notary Public who notarized the document or the public official

who certified the document.

The difference between an Apostille and an Authentication is determined by the

country who is the recipient of the document:

 The Hague Convention established a system that allows Secretaries of State

to process these special certifications for documents that are going to certain

countries which are party to the Hague Convention. This special

certification is called an Apostille.

 Requests for certifications for documents that are going to countries which

are not party to the Hague Convention receive a certification called an

Authentication.

Thank you for making the time to take the Secretary of State’s

Course of Study to enhance your knowledge of the duties and

responsibilities of notaries public in Maine!

Have Questions?

Call us: (207) 624-7752

Email us: cec.notaries@maine.gov