6.1 Prohibited Acts

Prohibited Acts for Montana Notaries

Montana Code Annotated (MCA) Title 1, Chapter 5, Part 6 spells out what a notary public may not do. These prohibitions exist because a notarization is a public act of trust: the notary certifies that a real person, properly identified, appeared and acted voluntarily. Violating them can cost you your commission, expose you to civil suits, and even result in criminal charges (covered in 6.5).

Self-Notarization

A notary may NOT notarize their own signature. The notary is an impartial witness; you cannot impartially witness yourself.

Conflicts of Interest (Beneficial Interest)

A notary may NOT perform a notarial act if the notary has a direct beneficial or financial interest in the transaction beyond the lawful notary fee. The test: Will I gain anything from this document other than my fee?

• You are named as a party, grantee, beneficiary, or trustee → disqualified.
• You will receive money or property from the transaction → disqualified.
• The document affects your own property → disqualified.

Worked Example

Deb is a notary and the office manager at a title company. A homebuyer signs a deed of trust naming the title company as the lender's agent. Deb is not named on the deed and gains nothing but her notary fee, so she may notarize. But if Deb co-signs the loan as a guarantor, she now has a beneficial interest and must decline and refer the signer to another notary.

The Employee Exception, Explained

Montana lets a notary who is a partner, stockholder, director, officer, or employee of a company notarize for that company's customers and clients, because the notary's connection to the company is not a personal stake in the specific document. The line is crossed only when the notary is individually named in the record or personally benefits beyond their salary and notary fee. A bank teller-notary may notarize a customer's loan papers; that same teller-notary may not notarize a loan on which the teller is a co-borrower.

And a notary who signs a record in a representative capacity — for example, signing as an officer of the company — may not then notarize that very same signature, because that again collapses the impartial-witness role into the signer role.

Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL)

Your commission does not make you a lawyer. A notary may not:

The safe move when asked 'What does this power of attorney do?' is to say: 'I'm not able to give legal advice — please ask an attorney.' You can read words on the page; you cannot interpret them.

The most common UPL trap on the exam is the signer who asks which notarial act they need: 'Should this be an acknowledgment or a jurat?' Choosing for the signer is a legal determination and therefore UPL. You may describe the mechanical difference — that a jurat requires an oath and signing in your presence while an acknowledgment does not — but the signer (or their attorney, or the agency that issued the form) must decide which act the document calls for. Likewise, telling a customer 'just write this clause in' or 'you should add a witness line here' is recommending document language, which is the practice of law.

When in doubt, narrow your role to identifying the signer, confirming willingness and awareness, completing the certificate, and applying your seal — and route every interpretive question to a lawyer.

Required Non-Attorney Disclaimer

A notary who is not a Montana-licensed attorney must, when advertising notary services, include this statement (or an SOS-approved alternative):

"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."

Immigration Services Prohibition

Montana, like most states, bans non-attorney notaries from acting as immigration consultants. A notary may not:

• Advise on immigration or citizenship status
• Represent anyone before immigration authorities
• Charge fees for 'immigration assistance'
• Use the title 'notario' or 'notario publico' (reserved for licensed attorneys)

The 'notario' trap: In many Latin American countries a notario público is a highly trained attorney. Using that title in the U.S. misleads immigrants into believing the notary can give legal help, which is illegal here and has led to widespread fraud. This is why Montana flatly bars the term for non-attorneys.

On the Exam

• No self-notarization — you cannot witness yourself.
• No beneficial interest — fee only; nothing else.
• No UPL — even 'simple' explanations can cross the line.
• No 'notario' unless you are a licensed attorney.
• Disclaimer required in advertising for non-attorneys.