6.2 Prohibited Acts

Personal Appearance Is Mandatory

RULONA requires the individual to appear personally before the notarial officer at the time of the act. Maine recognizes one exception: an authorized remote online notarization (RON), performed only after the notary files the required notice with the Secretary of State and uses approved audio-video technology. Telephone-only or mail-in notarization is never valid.

Identity Verification Failures

The notary must have satisfactory evidence of identity through a current government photo ID, personal knowledge, or a credible witness. Failing to verify, or proceeding despite doubt, is misconduct.

• Accepting an expired or obviously altered ID: prohibited
• Relying on a third party's say-so (other than a sworn credible witness): prohibited
• Proceeding when the signer seems confused, coerced, or impaired: prohibited

The notary must also refuse if not satisfied that the signer is competent, has capacity, and is signing knowingly and voluntarily.

Incomplete and Suspicious Records

If the record appears forged, altered, or designed to deceive, decline. A notary may never fill in substantive blanks for the signer; doing so risks unauthorized practice of law and fraud.

Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL)

A non-attorney notary in Maine may not give legal advice or prepare legal instruments.

Misleading Advertising and the 'Notario' Trap

A notary may not use false or misleading advertising or claim a power the notary does not have. Critically, a non-attorney may not use the title "notario" or "notario publico," because in many Spanish-speaking countries a notario publico is a licensed attorney. Any non-attorney notary who advertises in a language other than English must include, in that same language, the disclaimer: "I am not an attorney and therefore may not give legal advice about immigration or any other matter."

Why Each Prohibition Matters

These prohibitions are not arbitrary; each protects a different link in the chain of trust. Personal appearance guarantees the notary actually observed the signing and could assess the signer's demeanor. Identity verification ensures the named person, not an impostor, executed the record. The completeness rule prevents a signer from being bound to terms inserted after the fact. The UPL bar keeps notaries inside their narrow role of witnessing, not advising. And the advertising rules protect vulnerable consumers, especially immigrants, from believing a notary holds legal authority the notary does not have.

Violating any one of them can void the act and expose the notary to discipline under section 1924, plus civil and criminal liability.

A Decision Checklist Before You Stamp

Before performing any act, run this sequence. A "no" at any step means stop.

1. Is the signer physically (or by approved RON) present?
2. Do I have satisfactory evidence of identity?
3. Does the signer appear competent and willing, free of coercion?
4. Is the record complete with no blank essential terms?
5. Am I being asked only to witness, not to advise or draft?
6. Is my commission current and am I within Maine's jurisdiction?

Misuse of the Commission

• Acting after the commission has expired is void and can be criminal. Maine commissions run for a fixed term, and a single late act is enough to trigger liability.
• Acting outside Maine's jurisdiction is void; a Maine commission has no force in another state.
• Lending the seal, stamp, or journal to another person is misconduct, even if that person is also a notary.
• Pre-stamping blank certificates "to save time" is treated as fraud because the stamp asserts a completed act.

On the Exam

• Personal appearance always (RON is the only exception, and only when authorized).
• Verify identity; refuse on doubt of capacity or willingness.
• No blank essential terms.
• No legal advice, no 'notario,' no document drafting.
• No acting on an expired commission.

The 'Notario Publico' Prohibition in Depth

The notario rule is one of the most heavily tested consumer-protection provisions, because it targets a specific, well-documented fraud. In many Latin American and other civil-law countries, a notario publico is a highly trained, licensed attorney with broad legal authority — nothing like a U.S. notary, whose role is narrowly limited to witnessing. Unscrupulous operators have exploited that confusion to charge immigrants for "legal" services a notary cannot lawfully provide.

Maine therefore bars a non-attorney notary from using the title "notario" or "notario publico" in any advertising, and from implying the power to give immigration or other legal advice. A non-attorney who advertises notarial services in a language other than English must include, in that same language, the statutory disclaimer: "I am not an attorney and therefore may not give legal advice about immigration or any other matter." The disclaimer must also state the fees the notary may charge.

Mapping Each Prohibition to Its Statutory Duty

Every prohibited act is the mirror image of an affirmative RULONA duty, which is why memorizing the duties also memorizes the prohibitions. The table below pairs them so a fact pattern can be diagnosed instantly.

Refusal Is a Duty, Not a Discourtesy

New notaries often fear that refusing a notarization is rude or risky. The opposite is true: when any precondition fails, refusal is the legally required response, and a documented refusal is almost never the basis for discipline, while performing a defective act frequently is. A notary may decline whenever appearance, identity, willingness, completeness, or jurisdiction is in doubt — and should note the refusal and its reason in the journal. The one impermissible reason to refuse is an unlawful, discriminatory one (refusing service based on the signer's race, religion, national origin, or similar protected characteristic).

Lawful, duty-based refusals protect both the public and the notary's own commission.