3.1 Types of Notarial Acts

The Five Authorized Notarial Acts

Maine notaries derive their authority from Title 4, Chapter 39 of the Maine Revised Statutes — the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), which took effect July 1, 2023 and replaced Maine's older notary statutes. RULONA defines a closed list of acts a notarial officer (the statutory term that covers notaries public, and certain attorneys and officials) may perform. A notary cannot invent a new act, give legal advice, or perform any act not on this list.

Universal Requirements for Every Act

No matter which act is performed, RULONA imposes four non-negotiable conditions:

• Personal appearance. The individual must appear before the notary at the time of notarization — in person, or remotely only if the notary holds Secretary of State authorization for RON.
• Identification. The notary must have either personal knowledge of the individual or satisfactory evidence of identity (a current government photo ID, or one credible witness who personally knows the individual and is identified by the notary).
• No disqualifying interest. The notary may not act if they are a party to or have a direct beneficial interest in the transaction (Title 4, §1924).
• Contemporaneous certificate. A completed notarial certificate must accompany the act before the individual leaves.

Matching the Document to the Act

A frequent exam trap is choosing the wrong act for a document. The notary normally takes direction from the certificate wording already on the document; only when wording is missing does the notary ask the signer what is needed (never advising which is legally correct — that is unauthorized practice of law).

Worked Scenario

A notary is handed a self-proving will affidavit reciting "subscribed and sworn to before me." The phrase "sworn to" signals a jurat: the notary must administer an oath and watch each testator and witness sign. Contrast this with a quitclaim deed reading "acknowledged before me" — here the grantor may have signed yesterday and simply confirms the signature today. Reading the certificate language drives the correct act. The biggest mistake is treating every notarization as an acknowledgment by reflex; doing so on an affidavit means the required oath is never given and the document is defective.

Where RON and Electronic Acts Fit

RULONA also recognizes two technology-enabled methods, each requiring separate prior authorization from the Secretary of State beyond the basic commission:

• Electronic notarization (e-notary): the record and the notary's signature and stamp are electronic, but the signer still appears in person.
• Remote online notarization (RON): the signer is a remotely located individual who appears by live audio-video technology supplied by a state-approved provider; the notary must be physically present in Maine.

A traditional commission alone does not permit a notary to perform RON. The act being performed (acknowledgment, jurat, witnessing) is the same — only the medium and the appearance method change. RON sessions must be recorded and the recording retained, a recordkeeping duty that does not attach to ordinary paper acts.

What a Notary May Never Do

The closed list of acts also defines the boundaries a Maine notary must respect:

• No legal advice. Telling a signer which act their document "really" needs, or how to fill in legal blanks, is the unauthorized practice of law.
• No certifying facts the notary cannot verify. A notary attests to identity and the act, never to a document's truth, legality, or accuracy.
• No acting where disqualified. Title 4, §1924 bars a notary who is a party to, or has a direct financial interest in, the transaction.
• No notarizing for an absent or unidentifiable individual. Both personal appearance and satisfactory identification are absolute prerequisites.

Committing these violations can result in commission suspension or revocation by the Secretary of State, and may expose the notary to civil liability for any resulting harm. On the exam, when an answer choice has the notary advising, interpreting, or notarizing without appearance, it is almost always the wrong (prohibited) action.

A Decision Drill for Picking the Right Act

The single highest-yield skill in this chapter is reading a fact pattern and naming the act. Work the three diagnostic questions in order; the first "yes/no" pattern that matches resolves the act every time.

1. Is there a document at all? If there is no record to sign — you are simply swearing in a witness, an interpreter, or an appointee — the act is a standalone oath or affirmation. Stop here.
2. Does the signer swear the contents are true? If yes, and the signer signs in front of you, it is a jurat (verification on oath or affirmation). The certificate recites "signed and sworn to." If no oath is taken, move to question 3.
3. Must the signer sign in your presence? If yes (and no oath), it is a signature witnessing — "signed before me." If the signature can predate the appearance and the signer merely confirms it is theirs, it is an acknowledgment — "acknowledged before me." Copy certification is the outlier: there is no signer at all, only an original record you compare to a reproduction.

The Two Acts Beyond the Core Five

RULONA's closed list is not quite limited to the five teaching acts. A Maine notarial officer may also note or protest a dishonored negotiable instrument — a narrow commercial-paper function tied to the Uniform Commercial Code and the only act Maine statute prices (capped at $1.25; see 5.1). It rarely appears in modern practice but is a favorite distractor when a question asks which act has a statutory fee cap.

Separately, certifying a copy of an electronic record's tangible printout is recognized so that an electronic notarization can be reduced to paper for a county registry that does not yet accept electronic recording. Both functions are still bounded by the same universal preconditions — the closed list never authorizes the notary to invent a new act, certify the truth of a document, or advise which act the law requires.

Why the Closed-List Principle Matters

Maine deliberately enumerates the acts so that a notarization means exactly one defined thing to every court, bank, and registry that later relies on it. If notaries could improvise — "I certify this contract is fair," "I verify this person is competent," "I confirm this deed is valid" — the evidentiary value of the notarial seal would collapse. The closed list is therefore both a grant of authority and a strict ceiling: anything not on the list, the notary may not do. On the exam, an answer choice describing the notary vouching for a document's truth, legality, or fairness is always wrong, because no enumerated act reaches that far.