From the VA Notary Handbook:Impersonation of a Notary"If a person who is not a notary attempts to notarize a document, or otherwise acts as a notary without authority, the impersonator may be found guilty of felony charges.It should be noted that notaries whose commissions have expired and persons who have not yet received a commission do not have authority to act as a notary. A valid commission is necessary to perform any notarial act."Employers need to check the notary appointments of all... Read Full Story

Va notaries are barred from performing marriages. Marriage Celebrants appointed by a VA Circuit Court are allowed to marry individuals within the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court. Other states do allow notaries to marry individuals; VA notaries need to lobby the VA legislature for a change in the VA Code. One person was visiting from Florida and ask me to perform her marriage ceremony. I explained to her that celebrants, not notaries, performed marriages in VA.Notaries are not authorized ... Read Full Story

Dillon Rule is best explained by Kindler writing in the Blue Commonwealth"In a nutshell, the Dillon Rule prevents local governments in Virginia from exercising all but the most basic powers, except when expressly granted by the state legislature - thereby preventing our local governments from taking necessary, locally-appropriate actions unless and until our famously conservative General Assembly gives them permission to do so. (In many cases, fat chance of that.)But this is not simply a V... Read Full Story

When a federal employee begins employment with agency or changes from one federal agency to another federal agency the employee is required to be sworn in. This is accomplish by a federal affidavit that is filled in by the employee and Va notary swears the employee in doing a jurat and filling in the location, date, signing the form and stamping the affidavit with the notary stamp showing commission expiration date, and appointment number. The literature is not clear whether a state notary ... Read Full Story

A check of the internet and the web of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of VA shows no changes. Electronic notarization remain in limbo since the standards have not been approved and no notary has been appointed as an electronic notary. A special appointment is needed to become an electronic notary. As I have stated earlier, I do not expect electronic notarization to be common even if standards are approved and notaries are commissioned as electronic notaries. Read Full Story

I am very impressed with some couples. I meet couples who are bravely standing by and helping a very disabled or ill spouse. Va law is very clear. All spouses are 100% disposable by reason of divorce anytime and for no reason. During my notary travels, it is wonderful to meet these loyal couples. Divorce is necessary at times. As I have stated earlier, when a spouse sends a torpedo into marriage, press the ejection button and get on a new airplane, Do not get angry. I am also seeing couples... Read Full Story

I record and check the government photo id of witnesses. Furthermore,I sign them into my book. This is required if the notary certificate includes the names of the witnesses along with the signer(s). However, I do this regardless of what the notary certificate says. The client is not and should not be charged for this extra work. If there is controversy later, I have a record the witnesses in my notary journal.This may be redundant since many drafter of wills and power of attorney documents... Read Full Story

On June 6, 2009 I did 27 notarizations in Springfield VA. The agreement was $5 per notary act plus travel ($25). The representative of the affluent wealthy civic association has refused to pay the $160 and there appears to be no administrative remedies. Consequently, the options are to bill each signer independently or litigate against the the unincorporated entity that does not appear to have an registered agent. The first step after opening the litigation file is to document all communica... Read Full Story

The notary needs to check the government photo id of all celebrity clients even if the notary thinks they are public officials like Mr. and Mrs. Obama. A very famous soap star moved from Florida to Virginia and left her government photo id in Florida. She had plenty of newspapers articles with her picture and she was clearly known to millions over the years. The presiding notary declined to notarize her signature until the photo id arrived from Florida. While the presiding notary was perfec... Read Full Story

When the clients are signing as members of the board of an entity, this must be specified both in the signature line and in the notary certificate. The notary is not responsible to check the corporate documents to prove they are all members of the board. However, the notary must check the government photo id of member and have them sign your notary book. The notary could do a jurat and ask each member to affirm his/her membership on the board. The notary could also simply ask the individual ... Read Full Story