3.1 Types of Notarial Acts
Key Takeaways
- Connecticut notaries may perform acknowledgments, oaths/affirmations, jurats (verifications upon oath), signature witnessing, and limited copy certifications
- Every notarial act requires the personal, physical appearance of the signer before the notary
- A Connecticut commission is valid only inside Connecticut's borders; an act performed out of state is void
- The statutory maximum fee is $5.00 per notarial act under C.G.S. Sec. 3-95
- Identity is established by personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence, and the notary must remain impartial with no disqualifying interest
Types of Notarial Acts in Connecticut
A notarial act is an official act a notary public is authorized by law to perform. In Connecticut, the Secretary of the State commissions notaries under Connecticut General Statutes (C.G.S.) Title 3, Chapter 33 (Secs. 3-91 through 3-95), and the authorized acts are deliberately narrow. The SIE-style trap on the Connecticut exam is assuming a notary can do anything a signer asks. A notary cannot give legal advice, draft documents, certify true copies of vital records, or perform marriages — those are outside the commission.
The Five Authorized Acts
| Notarial Act | What the Notary Certifies | Must Signer Sign in Notary's Presence? |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgment | The signer voluntarily executed the document | No — may be pre-signed |
| Oath / Affirmation | A verbal vow was made on penalty of perjury | N/A (verbal act) |
| Jurat (verification upon oath) | Signer swore the contents are true AND signed before the notary | Yes — always |
| Signature Witnessing | The notary watched the signer sign | Yes |
| Copy Certification (limited) | A copy is a true reproduction of an original the notary holds | N/A |
Exam trap: Connecticut notaries may not certify copies of recordable documents such as birth, marriage, or death certificates, or court records. Those copies must come from the issuing agency. Copy certification is limited to documents the requester provides where no public-record copy is available.
Requirements Common to Every Act
Three pillars apply to all five acts. Memorize them as a checklist — the exam tests them repeatedly:
- Personal appearance. The signer must be physically present before the notary at the moment of the act. There is no notarization by telephone, mail, fax, or proxy. The only exception is remote online notarization (RON), which has its own audio-video appearance rule (Section 3.5).
- Identity verification. The notary must know the signer personally or rely on satisfactory evidence of identity (covered in Chapter 4). "Satisfactory evidence" typically means a current government photo ID or a credible identifying witness.
- Willingness and awareness. The signer must act voluntarily and appear competent and aware. If the signer seems coerced, intoxicated, or confused, the notary must decline the act.
Geographic Limitation
A Connecticut notary is commissioned for the State of Connecticut only. Within those borders the notary may act in any town or county — the commission is statewide, not town-restricted. But a notarization performed in Rhode Island, New York, or anywhere else is void, even one foot over the state line. A common worked scenario: a notary lives in Greenwich and drives a client to a closing in Port Chester, New York; the notary may not notarize there, because the act must occur on Connecticut soil.
Maximum Fees (C.G.S. Sec. 3-95)
Connecticut caps notary charges by statute. A notary may always charge less or nothing, but never more.
| Fee Type | Statutory Maximum |
|---|---|
| Per notarial act | $5.00 |
| Travel / mileage (optional) | $0.35 per mile |
The mileage fee must be agreed to in advance with the signer and is separate from the per-act fee. Worked example: a notary travels 20 miles round trip to notarize three signatures on one affidavit. Maximum chargeable: three acts × $5.00 = $15.00, plus 20 × $0.35 = $7.00 travel, for $22.00 — provided the travel charge was disclosed beforehand. Charging $6.00 for a single act, or undisclosed travel, is a violation that can support discipline by the Secretary of the State.
Why the Act Type Matters
Choosing the wrong act is the most common substantive error a new notary makes, and the exam probes it relentlessly. Each act answers a different legal question.
An acknowledgment answers "Did this person freely sign?" A jurat answers "Did this person swear the contents are true and sign in front of me?" An oath answers "Did this person verbally promise to tell the truth?" Signature witnessing answers "Did I watch this person sign?" If you apply an acknowledgment certificate to a document that legally needs a sworn jurat — such as an affidavit — the notarization may be rejected by the court or recorder, and the signer must redo it.
The Notary's Limits
A Connecticut notary is an impartial witness, not a lawyer or an advisor. Across all five acts, the notary must:
- Stay impartial. Never notarize a document in which the notary, the notary's spouse, or the notary has a direct financial or beneficial interest. A notary who is a party to a contract cannot notarize it.
- Refuse improper requests. Decline if the signer is absent, unidentifiable, coerced, or appears to lack capacity, or if the document is incomplete with blanks.
- Avoid unauthorized practice of law. Do not choose certificates for the public, explain legal effect, or advise which document to use. Direct those questions to an attorney.
Worked scenario: A signer brings a deed already signed and asks the notary to "recommend whether an acknowledgment or jurat is better." The notary may explain the mechanical difference between the acts but must not advise which one the document legally requires — that is a legal judgment reserved to the document's drafter or an attorney.
A Connecticut notary drives a client across the state line into New York to notarize a deed at a closing. What is the status of that notarization?
A notary performs two acknowledgments and one jurat for a client, then travels 10 miles back to the office. What is the maximum total amount the notary may lawfully charge if travel was disclosed in advance?