OH Notary - Ohio Notary Exam Ohio Notary Notarial Certificates and Seal 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following statements about an Ohio notary seal is correct?
- The seal must be applied in blue or black ink only
- The seal may be either an inked stamp or an embosser, but must be legible on the document (Correct answer)
- The seal must be a raised embossed seal and cannot be an inked stamp
- The seal is optional if the notary's signature is present
Correct answer: The seal may be either an inked stamp or an embosser, but must be legible on the document
Ohio law permits notaries to use either an inked rubber stamp or an embosser as their official seal, provided the impression is legible and meets statutory content requirements.
Question 2: When completing a jurat certificate in Ohio, what action must the signer perform in the notary's presence?
- Acknowledge that the signature is their own
- Sign the document and take an oath or affirmation that the contents are true (Correct answer)
- Present a government-issued photo ID
- Initial every page of the document
Correct answer: Sign the document and take an oath or affirmation that the contents are true
A jurat requires the signer to both sign the document before the notary and take an oath or affirmation attesting to the truthfulness of the document's contents — both acts must occur in the notary's presence.
Question 3: An Ohio notary realizes after completing a notarial certificate that they misspelled a word in the certificate. What is the proper course of action?
- Use correction fluid to cover the error and rewrite the correct text
- Draw a single line through the error, initial it, and write the correction (Correct answer)
- Issue a completely new certificate on a separate page
- Leave the error as-is since certificates cannot be altered once signed
Correct answer: Draw a single line through the error, initial it, and write the correction
Minor corrections to a notarial certificate should be made by drawing a single line through the error, initialing the correction, and writing in the correct information — this maintains document integrity while correcting the mistake.
Question 4: Which element is NOT required to appear in an Ohio notarial certificate for an acknowledgment?
- The county and state where the notarization took place
- The date the notarial act was performed
- The purchase price of any property described in the document (Correct answer)
- The notary's commission expiration date
Correct answer: The purchase price of any property described in the document
An Ohio acknowledgment certificate must include the venue (county and state), the date, the name of the signer, the notary's signature and seal, and the commission expiration date — but financial details of the underlying transaction are not part of the certificate.
Question 5: An Ohio notary is asked to notarize a document for a person who has already signed it before appearing before the notary. For an acknowledgment, this is:
- Prohibited — the signer must always sign in the notary's presence
- Permissible — the signer may acknowledge a previously made signature before the notary (Correct answer)
- Permissible only if the document is re-signed in the notary's presence
- Prohibited unless the document is a real estate deed
Correct answer: Permissible — the signer may acknowledge a previously made signature before the notary
An acknowledgment does not require the signer to sign in the notary's presence. The signer need only appear before the notary and acknowledge that the signature on the document is their own, even if it was affixed earlier.
Question 6: What information must an Ohio notary include when completing the venue section at the top of a notarial certificate?
- The notary's home address and phone number
- The state and county where the notarial act is being performed (Correct answer)
- The address of the document's intended recipient
- The notary's commission number and date of appointment
Correct answer: The state and county where the notarial act is being performed
The venue identifies the jurisdiction in which the notarial act takes place and must state the state (Ohio) and the specific county. It establishes the legal authority under which the notary is acting.
OH Notary - Ohio Notary Exam Ohio Notary Notarial Certificates and Seal 1
Which of the following statements about an Ohio notary seal is correct?