9.2 Signers with Disabilities

Notaries serve the entire public, including people with physical, sensory, and cognitive limitations. Refusing to notarize solely because a signer has a disability is discriminatory and may violate notary law and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The duty is to make reasonable accommodations so the signer can participate.

Core Principle: Disability ≠ Incapacity

A physical or sensory disability does not mean a person lacks mental capacity. Someone who is blind, deaf, paralyzed, or nonverbal may be fully competent and legally able to sign. The notary still must confirm the signer is willing and aware, but those are judged by behavior and communication — not by the disability itself.

Blind or Visually Impaired Signers

Do:

• Read the entire document aloud if the signer requests it — they have the right to know what they are signing.
• Allow additional time and never rush.
• Confirm understanding afterward by asking the signer to summarize the document's purpose.
• Verbally indicate where to sign; you may describe the location of the signature line.

Do NOT:

• Assume the signer cannot understand the document.
• Skip reading because the document is long.
• Sign for the signer or physically move their hand.
• Refuse solely because the signer is blind.

Watch for undue influence: if a companion insists on reading the document instead of the notary, that is a red flag. Offer to read it yourself to ensure impartial, accurate delivery, and note in the journal that the document was read aloud.

Deaf or Hearing-Impaired Signers

For a jurat, the oath or affirmation can be administered through a qualified sign language interpreter, or in writing with the signer's written affirmative response. The key is a genuine, ceremonial "yes."

Physically Impaired Signers Who Cannot Write

A signer who cannot physically write (paralysis, amputation, severe arthritis, tremor) may use a signature by mark — typically an "X." The exact rule is set by each state, but the widely tested procedure is:

1. The signer makes their mark (an "X" or similar) on the signature line.
2. Two disinterested witnesses observe the signer making the mark (required in most states; some states require only one, and a handful require none — know your state).
3. One witness writes the signer's printed name beside the mark.
4. Both witnesses sign their own names as witnesses.
5. The notary completes the notarial certificate as usual.
6. The notary records in the journal that a signature by mark was used.

Witnesses must be disinterested — they cannot benefit from the document. The notary does not have to ID the witnesses unless they are also serving as credible witnesses establishing the signer's identity, in which case their signatures belong in the journal.

Assistive Devices

Signers may use mouth sticks, foot-writing, signature stamps where state law allows, or other adaptive tools. As long as the signer creates their own mark or signature, the method does not matter. The notary must never assist in physically forming the signature.

The Line Between Help and Forgery

There is a bright line the exam tests repeatedly: the notary may describe where to sign, steady the document, or provide a firm surface, but may never guide the signer's hand or sign on the signer's behalf. The moment the notary controls the pen, the resulting signature is not the signer's free act — it is, in effect, the notary forging the signature, which destroys the validity of the notarization and exposes the notary to civil and criminal liability. If a signer truly cannot make any mark at all, the proper path is a signature by mark with witnesses, or a referral to an attorney about alternatives such as a power of attorney.

Refusing for Lack of Capacity vs. Disability

Disability is never a basis to refuse, but lack of awareness or willingness always is — even when the lack of awareness is unrelated to any diagnosed disability. The notary must keep these separate:

The disability itself is irrelevant; the question is always whether this signer, today, can demonstrate awareness and willingness through some means of communication.

Hospital and Care-Facility Notarizations

On the Exam

• Disability ≠ incapacity — never refuse based on disability alone.
• Blind signers: read the document aloud, confirm understanding.
• Deaf signers: written notes or a sign language interpreter (interpreters allowed here).
• Signature by mark: an "X" with (typically) two disinterested witnesses.
• Hospitals: heightened attention to willingness and awareness; reschedule the over-medicated signer.