Louisiana Notary Rules and Duties Under Title 35

R.S. 35:2(A) gives notaries power within their parishes to make inventories, appraisements, and partitions; receive wills; make protests, matrimonial contracts, and conveyances and, generally, all contracts and instruments of writing; hold family meetings and meetings of creditors; receive acknowledgments of instruments under private signature; make affidavits of correction; and affix and raise seals on a deceased person's effects. Acts executed in conformity with Civil Code Article 1833 are authentic acts, the form that requires the notary and two witnesses.

Two powers reach statewide regardless of parish: administering oaths, including swearing deposition witnesses before a certified court reporter, and verifying pleadings and interrogatories (R.S. 35:2(B)). Under R.S. 35:2(C) a notary may also certify true copies of acts passed or acknowledged before that notary and of documents annexed to them.

R.S. 35:12 requires the full names of the parties, not initials alone, with their permanent mailing addresses, and the printed or typed names of the witnesses and the notary beneath their signatures. Every document notarized in Louisiana must carry the notary identification number assigned by the Secretary, or for an attorney the Louisiana bar roll number, placed next to the notary's printed name. Recorders and state agencies may refuse documents that lack these items. R.S. 35:11 also requires acts to state the marital status of the parties.

There is no embossed seal requirement. The Secretary's FAQ puts it simply: the notary's signature is the seal. Only a regularly commissioned notary may use the title Notary Public; ex officio notaries must state the office their authority comes from.

The Title 35 sections summarized here do not publish a list of acceptable identification documents for in-person acts, and the Secretary treats identification practice as study-guide material. For remote online acts the statute is specific: R.S. 35:627 requires either personal knowledge or remote presentation of a government-issued credential bearing the person's photo and signature, combined with credential analysis and identity proofing. For in-person work, follow the procedures taught in the official study guide.

Under R.S. 35:199, notaries must record acts of sale, exchange, donation, and mortgage of immovable property passed before them. Outside Orleans Parish the deadline is 15 days after passage, with the recorder of the parish where the property sits. In Orleans Parish, acts go first to the custodian of notarial records, and transfers must be registered within 48 hours. Each violation carries a $200 fine plus the parties' damages, unless all parties directed the notary in writing to hold the instrument or deliver it elsewhere.

R.S. 35:200 limits suits against non-attorney notaries: one year from the act or its discovery, and no more than three years from the act, except in cases of fraud. Clerical errors in an act can be fixed by an act of correction executed before two witnesses and a notary under R.S. 35:2.1.

Louisiana has no statutory fee schedule for notarial services. The Secretary's FAQ confirms that nothing in state law sets or limits what a notary may charge, so fees are a matter of agreement. Separate from what you charge clients, you will pay the Secretary for filings such as the annual report, bond renewals, and name changes.

Non-attorney notaries file an annual report by each commission anniversary under R.S. 35:202; a filing more than 60 days late triggers automatic suspension. Bonds must be renewed every five years under R.S. 35:71, and a non-attorney whose bond lapses is suspended automatically. Addresses must be updated within 60 days (R.S. 35:191.3). Disbarred or suspended attorneys may not exercise notarial functions at all while the discipline lasts (R.S. 35:14).

Name changes follow a similar pattern. According to the Secretary's FAQ, a notary who changes names executes a new oath in the new name, changes the name on the bond, and files a new official signature page and a name change affidavit with the $35 fee.

The Remote Online Notarization Act, R.S. 35:621 and following, took effect for registration on February 1, 2022. A commissioned Louisiana notary living in the state must complete an online course and quiz, choose a technology provider, and file a RON registration with a one-time $100 fee. The notary must be physically in a parish where the notary may act; the signer may be anywhere, and any witness must be physically with the signer.

R.S. 35:623 excludes testaments, trust instruments, donations inter vivos, matrimonial agreements, and acts affecting final spousal support, and no remote act can be an authentic act, though it may still be valid under private signature or as an acknowledged act. Remote notaries keep electronic copies and audio-video recordings for at least 10 years under R.S. 35:629.