6.2 Prohibited Acts

The Two Statutory Prohibitions

CGS Sec. 3-94h sets out two express prohibitions. A notary public shall not: (1) perform any official action with intent to deceive or defraud, or (2) use the notary's title or seal in an endorsement or promotional statement for any product, service, contest, or other offering. Memorize this two-part structure — the exam frequently asks you to identify which acts fall inside it.

Intent to Deceive or Defraud

This prohibition captures the conduct most likely to harm the public and most likely to end a commission. Examples of acts that violate the deceive-or-defraud rule:

• Notarizing without personal appearance — certifying a signer was present when they were not.
• Backdating or postdating — recording a notarization date other than the true date of the act.
• Knowingly notarizing a false affidavit — helping an affiant swear to something the notary knows is untrue.
• Ignoring an obviously fraudulent ID — proceeding when identity is plainly fake.
• Completing a blank document for the signer to make it appear complete.

Public policy: A core purpose of Sec. 3-94h is to stop a notary from using official powers to help an affiant lie to a court. The notary's seal is a public assurance; misusing it to deceive strikes at the heart of the office.

Promotional Use of the Title or Seal

The second prohibition is narrower but absolute. You may not lend the credibility of your notary title or seal to marketing. Prohibited uses include product endorsements, advertising campaigns, contest promotions, testimonials, and any "As a Notary Public, I recommend..." statement. You may truthfully advertise your notary services (e.g., "Mobile notary available"); what you may not do is use the office to vouch for unrelated goods or offerings.

Unauthorized Practice of Law

A Connecticut notary who is not also a licensed attorney may not give legal advice. Drafting documents, choosing which legal instrument a person needs, or explaining the legal effect of language is the unauthorized practice of law.

Incomplete Documents

Never notarize an instrument that contains blank spaces meant to be filled in later, is missing pages, or will be finished after you sign. A signer's promise that they will "complete it tonight" does not satisfy the rule — the document must be final and complete at the moment of notarization.

Worked Scenario

A real-estate agent asks a notary to notarize a power of attorney now and "fill in the property address tomorrow," and offers to feature the notary's photo in a brochure that says "Trusted Notary recommends our agency." The notary must refuse both requests: notarizing the blank-address document risks an act of deception under Sec. 3-94h, and lending the title to the brochure is a prohibited promotional use. The correct response is to decline, explain that the document must be complete, and that the title cannot be used to endorse the agency.

The Personal-Appearance Requirement in Depth

The single most important prohibition embedded in Sec. 3-94h is the bar on certifying an act that did not happen as described — and the most common version of that is notarizing without personal appearance. Every notarial certificate asserts that the signer appeared before the notary. If the signer was not present, the certificate is false, and the notary has performed an official action that deceives everyone who later relies on it. This is true even when the notary personally knows the signer and is certain the signature is genuine.

Certainty about the signature is not a substitute for appearance; the law requires the signer to be physically (or, through authorized remote online notarization, virtually but live) in front of you at the moment of the act.

The practical danger is social pressure. A regular client drops a stack of signed forms at the front desk and asks you to "stamp them and I'll grab them at lunch." Helpful instinct says yes; the statute says no. Skipping appearance is the fact pattern behind a large share of notary lawsuits, because it is precisely the gap that enables forgery and fraud. Train yourself to treat "the signer is not here" as an automatic stop.

Drawing the Line on Legal Advice

The unauthorized-practice-of-law boundary trips up well-meaning notaries who want to be helpful. A useful mental rule: you may describe the mechanics of notarization, but you may not opine on the substance or legal effect of the document. You can say, "This form needs an acknowledgment, so I will complete the acknowledgment certificate." You cannot say, "This power of attorney gives your son control of your bank accounts, so you may want a durable one instead." The first is a notarial-process statement; the second chooses a legal instrument and interprets its effect — the work of a licensed attorney.

The safe redirect is always the same: "I'm not permitted to give legal advice; you'll want to ask an attorney about that." This protects the signer (who gets correct counsel) and the notary (who avoids both unauthorized practice and the liability that flows from a bad layperson's guess).

Why Promotional Misuse Is Treated Seriously

The ban on using the title or seal in endorsements may seem minor next to fraud, but it guards the same asset: the public's trust in the seal. If notaries could rent their official credibility to advertisers, the seal would come to mean "someone paid for this" instead of "an impartial officer certified this." That is why Sec. 3-94h treats promotional misuse as a flat prohibition rather than a judgment call. The boundary is clean: advertise your notary services truthfully, but never attach the office to a third party's product, contest, or offering.