Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1904 – Authority to perform notarial act
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1. Notarial acts authorized. A notarial officer may perform a notarial act authorized by this chapter or by a law of this State other than this chapter.
[PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1904
- Acknowledgment: means a declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record and, if the record is signed in a representative capacity, that the individual signed the record with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the record. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Domestic partner: means one of 2 unmarried adults who are domiciled together under long-term arrangements that evidence a commitment to remain responsible indefinitely for each other's welfare. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- Notarial act: includes taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking a verification on oath or affirmation, witnessing or attesting a signature, certifying or attesting a copy and noting a protest of a negotiable instrument or loss in mercantile usage. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- Notarial officer: means a notary public or other individual authorized to perform a notarial act. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- Oath: includes an affirmation, when affirmation is allowed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, statutory trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality or any other legal or commercial entity. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 4 Sec. 1902
- Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
2. Certification of electronic records. A notarial officer may certify that a tangible copy of an electronic record is an accurate copy of the electronic record.
[PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
3. Conflict of interest. A notarial officer may not perform a notarial act with regard to which the notarial officer has a conflict of interest as set forth in this subsection.
A. A notarial officer may not perform any notarial act for any person if that person is the officer’s spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child or an in-law or a step or half relative of the officer. [PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
B. A notarial officer may not perform any notarial act with respect to a record to which the notarial officer or the officer’s spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child or an in-law or a step or half relative of the officer is a party or in which any of them has a direct beneficial interest. [PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
C. Notwithstanding paragraphs A and B, a notarial officer authorized by Title 19?A, section 655 to solemnize marriages may solemnize the marriage of a parent, sibling or child or an in-law or a step or half relative of the officer. [PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
[PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
4. Acts of notarial officer who is interested in corporation. Any notarial officer who is a stockholder, director, officer or employee of a bank or other corporation may take the acknowledgement of any party to any written instrument executed to or by the bank or corporation, may administer an oath to any other stockholder, director, officer, employee or agent of the bank or corporation or may protest for nonacceptance or nonpayment bills of exchange, drafts, checks, notes and other negotiable instruments that may be owned or held for collection by the bank or other corporation. It is unlawful for any notarial officer to take the acknowledgment of an instrument by or to a bank or other corporation of which the notarial officer is a stockholder, director, officer or employee when the notarial officer is a party to the instrument, either individually or as a representative of the bank or other corporation, or to protest any negotiable instrument owned or held for collection by the bank or other corporation, when the notarial officer is individually a party to the instrument.
[PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
5. Direct initiative or people’s veto referendum. A notarial officer may not administer an oath or affirmation to a circulator of a petition for a direct initiative or people’s veto referendum under Title 21?A, section 902 if the notarial officer also provides services that are not notarial acts to initiate or promote that direct initiative or people’s veto referendum.
[PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
6. Voidable notarial acts. A notarial act performed in violation of subsection 3, 4 or 5 is voidable.
[PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW); PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §4 (NEW). PL 2021, c. 651, Pt. A, §8 (AFF).