New York Notary Public Rules and Duties

19 NYCRR 182.3 requires every party to a notarized transaction to appear before the notary for its whole duration, unless the act is an authorized electronic notarization. The Department's booklet is blunt that acknowledgments or affidavits taken by telephone are illegal.

For a signer who is physically present, 182.5(b) lists the acceptable ways to establish identity:

Since January 25, 2023, all New York notaries, including those who only work in person, must keep a record of every notarial act. Section 182.9 requires the entry to be made at the time of the act and to show the date, approximate time and type of act; the name and address of each person served; the number and type of services; the credential used to identify the principal, including witness names where witnesses were relied on; and the verification procedure used. Electronic notaries also log the communication technology and verification providers.

Records must be kept at least ten years and be available to the Secretary of State on request. They may be stored with a third party if protected by a password or other secure access control.

Executive Law 137 requires the venue and the notary's signature, and beneath the signature, in black ink, the notary's name, the words 'Notary Public State of New York', the county where the notary originally qualified and the commission expiration date. The notary may print, type or stamp this information. Notaries who qualified in, or filed a certificate of official character with, a county inside New York City must also add the official number assigned there. Separately, 182.3 requires the official number on any instrument involving an oath or affirmation, whatever the county.

New York does not require an embossed seal. If one is used, the Department's view is that the notary's name and 'Notary Public for the State of New York' are enough. Sign only the name under which you were commissioned; a notary who marries mid-term may add the married name in parentheses after that signature.

Executive Law 136 sets small fixed amounts, and the Public Officers Law forbids charging more than the law allows. An overcharging officer faces treble damages in a civil action as well as possible prosecution and removal.

Under 182.3(a)(5) a notary must step aside from any transaction in which the notary is a party or has a direct financial interest. The booklet gives examples: a grantee or mortgagee cannot take the grantor's acknowledgment, and New York courts have treated such acknowledgments as a nullity. Executive Law 138 lets an employee or shareholder of a corporation notarize for that corporation, but not when the notary signs the instrument personally or on the company's behalf.

A non-attorney notary may not give legal advice or draft wills, deeds, leases, contracts or other legal papers, may not split fees with a lawyer, and may not solicit legal business for one. Judiciary Law 484 and 485 make unauthorized practice a misdemeanor. Under Executive Law 135-b, a notary advertising in a language other than English must post a statement that they are not an attorney and cannot give legal advice or accept fees for it; violations carry civil penalties of up to $1,000, suspension on a second offense and removal on a third.

Executive Law 135-c authorizes electronic notarial acts by notaries who first register the capability with the Department of State. The notary must be physically in New York; the signer can be anywhere, but a signer outside the United States must confirm on the recording that the matter has a stated connection to the United States. Remote signers are identified by personal knowledge, by credential analysis plus identity proofing, or by a credible witness. The session must be recorded, and the recording kept for at least ten years.

The certificate for a remote act must state that the signer appeared through communication technology. Remote ink notarization, allowed during the pandemic, ended on January 31, 2023. No employer may insist that notarizations be done only electronically, and a notary may decline any electronic act.

A notary may refuse when not satisfied that the signer is competent or is signing knowingly and voluntarily, and must refuse when the Part 182 requirements are not met. At the same time, the booklet cites Penal Law 195.00 for the point that an officer empowered to take an oath must administer it on request, and that refusing is a misdemeanor.

The Secretary may suspend or remove a notary for misconduct after notice and a hearing. Criminal statutes reach further: