CONGRATULATIONS!
As a notary public, you are an appointed and commissioned ocer that serves the public by administering oaths and acng
as an ocial witness to people who seek your assistance in cerfying or aesng to documents.
PRIOR to performing notarial acts:
F Register your commission with your county of residence. Non-residents register with
the county designated on your commission cercate. The fee to register with a county is $20. County contact infor-
maon is included in your Commission Instrucons.
F Purchase a notary stamp from a stamp manufacturer or oce supply store. Your stamp must contain the state seal,
your tle “Notary Public,” your name as it appears on your notary cercate, and your commission expiraon date. See
Minnesota Statute 359.03, subd. 3 for addional stamp specicaons.
F Review Minnesota Statutes 357, 358 and 359. Minnesota Notaries are responsible for understanding and following
the rules and regulaons of notarizaon. Visit the Minnesota Legislature website to review the statutes.
Oponal:
F Obtain a notarial journal to keep a record of your notarial acts. You should record the following informaon:
• Date; Type of notarial act; A descripon of the document; The signature, printed name, and address of each
document signer; How the signer proved their identy; County; and Fee charged, if any.
F Ask your employer or insurance provider if securing a bond or insurance is necessary.
F Seek addional training and educaon.
F Create your Online Notary Account: Your online account can be used to print your Notary Commission Cercate,
change your contact informaon, and renew your notary commission. Visit our website to register.
Performing Notarial Acts
You may only perform notarial acts if:
1. the document signer appears in person before you; and
2. you are in the state of Minnesota at the me.
You may charge up to $5 for most notarial acts. See Minnesota
Statutes, secon 357.17 for a list of excepons.
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Notary Checklist
Notary Commission Guide
As a notary, you will likely perform the following:
F Witnessing signatures.
F Aesng to copies of documents. Notaries evaluate copied documents to determine that they are complete and
correct reproducons of the original documents.
F Cerfying that the document signer swears (or arms) that the document contents are truthful.
F Providing Acknowledgments that cerfy the signature already appearing on the document is genuine (see example
cercate).
F Administering wrien oaths.
F Administering oral oaths. Oath-takers must raise their hand and say the oath aloud.
No Advice: Do not provide unauthorized advice or
services; leave that to the experts in those elds.
Privacy: Respect the privacy of each signer and do
not divulge or use personal or proprietary informaon
disclosed during the execuon of a notarial act for
other than an ocial purpose.
Notarizing a Document
Six Steps to Notarizing
1. Verify the identy of each signer either by seeing their idencaon, having a credible witness
swear to their identy, or personal knowledge.
2. Verify a document signer’s willingness to sign the document.
3. Perform the notarial act.
4. Complete a Cercate of Notarial Act (see example below).
5. Ax your stamp.
6. Record the notarial act in your journal (oponal).
Do NOT Notarize if:
• The document signer or oath-taker does not personally appear before you.
• The document signer or oath-taker appears unwilling or coerced.
• The document signer does not provide sasfactory evidence that he or she is the person whose true signature appears
on the document.
• You have not fully completed the cercate or jurat.
• You are outside of the State of Minnesota.
• The document is an original birth, death, or marriage cercate. (Cered copies can be obtained from the Minnesota
Department of Health or the county.)
• You believe the document or transacon is decepve or fraudulent.
• You are the signer of the document to be notarized.
• You will prot or gain from the transacon.
• You do not have adequate me to carry out the notarial act properly.
• You believe doing so will violate the law governing notarial acts.
• There is a potenal for a conict of interest (i.e., notarizing for a family member).
Certificate of Notarial Act
A notarial act must be evidenced by a Cercate of Notarial Act, also known as a short form or jurat. Cercates of
Notarial Act include Acknowledgment, Vericaon upon Oath or Armaon, Witnessing or Aesng a signature, and
Aestaon of a Copy of a Document.
The cercate may be pre-printed on the document or a separate form to be aached to the document by the notary aer
performing the notarial act. If your name is pre-printed as part of the cercate, it must match your name as it appears on
your stamp and your notary commission.
Complete the cercate fully and accurately, lling in all blanks (A-H in example below).
[Signature of notarial ocer]
Title / Rank
My Commission Expires: [date]
Apostille
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Keeping Your Commission Up-to-Date
Electronic Notary (E) and Remote Online Notary (RON)
Cercate examples can be downloaded from our website and found in Minnesota Statute 358.66 Short Form Cercates.
Apostille
An aposlle is a cercate aached to document that ceres the document for internaonal use. Authencaon is the
process of verifying the government ocial or notary public that cered or notarized a document. Internaonal ocials
oen require document authencaon to prove that the document is genuine and acceptable in another country.
Notarized documents commonly submied include adopon dossiers, transcripts, business records and powers of aorney.
Notarial errors are a common cause of authencaon rejecons. Be certain you are following all notary rules and
regulaons including fully and accurately compleng the notarial cercate, keeping your notary commission valid and up
to date, the expiraon date on your notary stamp is accurate, and your name on your Notary stamp matches your name as
it appears on your Notary Commission Cercate.
Visit the Aposlle Authencaon page on the Oce of the Minnesota Secretary of State website to learn more.
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Keeping Your Commission Up-to-Date
Register any name or address changes with the Oce of the Secretary of State within 30 days of the change.
Renew your commission with the Oce of the Secretary of State and re-register with your county every ve years.
To cancel your commission or report your notary stamp as lost or stolen, call 651-296-2803 or email notary[email protected].
Electronic Notary (E) and Remote Online Notary (RON)
Separate authorizaons are required to perform RON and E-Notarizaons.
E-Notarizaon is the performance of a notarial act on an electronic document using an electronic signature and electronic
seal. The signers appear in person before the notary public.
Remote Online Notarizaon (RON) is the performance of a notarial act over the internet using digital tools and a live audio/
video call.
As a registered and acve Minnesota Notary you may request authorizaon(s) to perform E and RON services. Remote
Online Notaries also need to know and follow RON laws and rules. See Minnesota Statute, Chapter 359.645.
E Authorizaon and RON Authorizaon forms are available to download and print from our website. There is no fee due for
either type of authorizaon.
This is a general guide and is not intended to provide direcon for every situaon you may encounter as a notary.
Answers to frequently asked quesons can be found on the Oce of the Minnesota Secretary of State website.
If at any me you are unsure how to proceed, it is recommended you seek legal advice. As a notary you may be
criminally and civilly liable for any negligent or fraudulent acts.
Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State
Notary Services
notary.sos.state.mn.us
E-mail: notary[email protected]
Phone: 651-296-2803
Toll Free: 1-877-551-6767
Minnesota Relay Service: 711
This document is available in alternave formats.