WV Notary Legal and Ethical Responsibilities 4

Question 1

A WV notary's neighbor asks them to notarize a will and explain what the residuary clause means. The notary may:

Accepted Answer

Notarize the signature but decline to explain the legal terms

Answer

Explain the clause since wills are common documents

Answer

Rewrite the clause in plain language first

Answer

Refuse to notarize any will

Question 2

Under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) as adopted in West Virginia, a notary may refuse to perform a notarial act if:

Accepted Answer

The notary is not satisfied the signer is competent or acting voluntarily

Answer

The signer is not a customer of the notary's employer

Answer

The document is longer than ten pages

Answer

The signer refuses to tip

Question 3

A WV notary performed a notarization for a document later used in a lawsuit. The signer claims coercion. What best protects the notary from liability?

Accepted Answer

A contemporaneous journal entry documenting the act and ID used

Answer

A verbal recollection of the event

Answer

A copy of the entire signed document

Answer

A character reference from the employer

Question 4

A WV notary is offered $50 to notarize documents for a mobile signing. The notary's base notarial fee is capped, so the extra amount:

Accepted Answer

May be charged as a travel fee if agreed upon with the signer in advance

Answer

Is always illegal

Answer

Must be donated to the state

Answer

Can only be accepted from attorneys

Question 5

A WV notary realizes after the fact that they notarized a document for a signer whose ID had expired years earlier. The most ethical course is to:

Accepted Answer

Document the error, and require proper identification before any corrective re-notarization

Answer

Do nothing since the act is complete

Answer

Quietly amend the certificate date

Answer

Destroy the journal entry

Question 6

Which of the following is a notary public in West Virginia legally permitted to do?

Accepted Answer

Administer an oath to a witness

Answer

Prepare a power of attorney for a client

Answer

Select the appropriate notarial certificate when the document has none and the signer cannot choose

Answer

Certify a document as legally enforceable

Question 7

A lender asks a WV notary to notarize a stack of loan documents that were pre-signed by borrowers who left the office an hour earlier. The notary should refuse because:

Accepted Answer

Acknowledgments require the signer to personally appear before the notary at the time of the notarial act

Answer

The fee would exceed the statutory cap

Answer

Loan documents cannot be notarized in West Virginia

Answer

Only attorneys may notarize loan packages