Seal and Certificate Flashcards
7 cards from real GA NOTARY practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Seal and Certificate flashcards as text
A Georgia notary's commission is revoked by the court. What must the notary do with their seal?
Answer: Surrender or destroy the seal so it cannot be used for unauthorized notarizations
When a commission is revoked, the notary's authority ends immediately and the seal must be surrendered or destroyed to prevent unauthorized use.
A Georgia notary whose commission lists Fulton County is asked to perform a notarization in DeKalb County. May they do so?
Answer: Yes, a Georgia notary may perform notarial acts anywhere within the state
A Georgia notary's authority extends statewide; the county listed on the commission and seal is the county of appointment, not a geographic restriction.
A notary changes their legal name after marriage. What must they do regarding their seal?
Answer: Obtain a new commission and seal reflecting the new name before performing further notarizations
Because the seal must display the notary's name exactly as it appears on their commission, a legal name change requires a new commission and a new seal.
Can a notarial certificate be placed on a separate page and then stapled to the document it pertains to?
Answer: Yes, a loose certificate is equally valid as long as it clearly identifies the document
A notarial certificate may be on a separate page (a 'loose certificate') as long as it clearly identifies the document to which it belongs, though some document types have specific requirements.
The date on a notarial certificate must correspond to:
Answer: The date the notarial act was actually performed
The certificate date must reflect the actual date the notary performed the notarial act, not any other date associated with the document's lifecycle.
A signer asks a Georgia notary to add their notary seal to a document they signed years ago without any current notarization. The notary should:
Answer: Refuse, as affixing the seal without performing a current notarial act is improper
Affixing a seal without performing a contemporaneous notarial act is fraudulent; the notary must conduct a proper notarization with the signer present.
A Georgia notary discovers they wrote the wrong year on a certificate immediately after the signer leaves. The best practice is to:
Answer: Cross out the error, write the correct year, initial the correction, and note it in their journal
A transparent correction — crossing out the error, inserting the correct information, and initialing the change — is the accepted method, provided it is done before the document is delivered or relied upon.