I say this all the time: notaries get themselves into trouble because, by nature, we are helpers. And I don’t mean that as a criticism. Honestly, I think that is one of the best qualities a notary can have. We deal with people who are often stressed, confused, sick, grieving, buying a home, selling a home, signing important legal documents, or simply trying to get something accomplished. We want to help. That is really at the crux of what we do. But there is a very important distinction between helping someone and helping someone at the expense of our responsibilities as a notary.

I had a perfect example of this yesterday. We had a signing take place in a hospital, and in the notary’s completion report, she noted that the signer did not have her identification with her. Apparently, the notary had contacted the lender and asked whether the signer could send her identification over later, and the lender said yes. When I read that, my immediate thought was, okay… but how did you identify her for the notarization?

So I emailed the notary and asked. I was fully expecting her to tell me that she had used credible witnesses, alternate identification permitted in her state, or some other lawful method that would explain how she had been able to proceed.

Nope.

The signer’s ID was at home. Her son was with her at the hospital. So the son FaceTimed someone at the house and had that person hold the identification up to the phone so the notary could look at it remotely.

Wait. What?

I knew immediately that this was not an acceptable method of identification in the state where this notary was commissioned. And here is the frustrating part: I know why she did it. I really do. The signer was in the hospital. Her family was there. The documents needed to be signed. The notary probably wanted to make things easier for everyone involved. Maybe she felt bad telling a woman in the hospital that the signing could not be completed. Maybe she thought, “Well, I can see the ID. I can see the signer. This should be close enough.” Maybe she was concerned that if the appointment could not be completed, she would not get paid. Or maybe it was a little bit of all three.

But this is exactly what I mean when I say that our desire to help people can sometimes get us into trouble. Because once you step outside the law or outside the rules governing your notarial act, you really have not helped anyone. Now the notary has potentially put herself in a position of liability. She has potentially put the company that hired her in a position of liability. And, perhaps most importantly, she may have put the signer in a position where the notarization itself could later be questioned.

Think about that for a minute. The whole reason we have identification requirements in the first place is because the notarial act is supposed to provide a level of assurance that the person appearing before the notary is actually the person signing the document. It is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the job. So if we start improvising because the circumstances are inconvenient, we are defeating the very purpose of the notarization.

I think this is where we, as a community, need to have more conversations about boundaries. Not every problem that is put in front of a notary is ours to solve. That can be difficult for people who are naturally problem-solvers. I am one of them. If there is a way to get something done, I want to find it. But the solution cannot be, “Well, this is probably close enough.”

Sometimes the correct answer is simply, “I’m sorry, but I cannot legally proceed this way.” That does not mean you are being difficult. It does not mean you are providing poor customer service. It does not mean you do not care about the person sitting in front of you. And it certainly does not mean that you stop trying to help. You can look for another lawful option. You can determine whether credible witnesses are permitted and appropriate. You can ask whether another acceptable form of identification is available. You can reschedule the appointment. You can explain what the signer will need in order to complete the notarization. You can call the hiring party and explain the issue. There are plenty of ways to be helpful without putting your commission on the line.

But sometimes helping means recognizing that there is no legal workaround available at that moment, and that is okay. I think we need to get more comfortable with that. We talk a lot in the notary industry about customer service, getting the job done, solving problems, being professional, and making things easy for the signer. All of those things matter. But none of them outrank the law. None of them outrank the oath you took when you accepted your commission. And none of them are worth putting yourself, your client, or the signer at risk.

There is also another lesson here that I think is worth mentioning. The lender told the notary that the signer could send the identification later. That does not mean the notary was permitted to complete the notarization without properly identifying the signer. This is an important distinction that newer notaries sometimes struggle with. The lender can decide what the lender will accept. The title company can decide what the title company will accept. The attorney can decide what the attorney will accept. Your signing service can give you instructions. But none of those people can give you permission to violate your state’s notary law.

That responsibility belongs to you.

At the end of the day, your name, your signature, your seal, and your commission are on that document. You own that notarization. So when someone tells you, “It’s fine,” or “Just do it this way,” or “We’ll take care of it later,” you still have to stop and ask yourself: am I legally permitted to do this? If the answer is no, then the answer is no.

I understand that can be uncomfortable. I understand that notaries worry about losing assignments, upsetting a client, disappointing a signer, or not getting paid. But the longer you do this work, the more you realize that protecting your commission and doing the job correctly has to come first. You can be compassionate and still have boundaries. You can be empathetic and still say no. You can be helpful without becoming so determined to solve the problem that you create a bigger one.

Sometimes trying to help someone actually hurts them. And sometimes the most professional, responsible, and genuinely helpful thing a notary can do is simply say, “I’m sorry. I cannot do that,” and then find the lawful solution, if one exists.

Because our job is not just to get the signing done. Our job is to get it done correctly.