Montana Code 1-5-609. Certificate of notarial acts
1-5-609. Certificate of notarial acts. (1) (a) A notarial act must be evidenced by a certificate completed by a notarial officer.
Terms Used In Montana Code 1-5-609
- Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
- Communication technology: means a real-time, two-way audiovisual electronic device or process that:
(a)allows a notarial officer located in this state and a remotely located individual to communicate with each other simultaneously by sight and sound;
(b)facilitates communication with a remotely located individual with a vision, hearing, or speech impairment when necessary under and consistent with applicable law; and
(c)complies with this part and implementing rules. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Notarial act: means an act, whether performed with respect to a tangible or electronic record, that a notarial officer may perform under the law of this state. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- Notarial officer: means a notary public or other individual authorized to perform notarial acts. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- notary: means an individual commissioned to perform a notarial act by the secretary of state. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- Official stamp: means a physical image affixed to or embossed on a tangible record or an electronic image attached to or logically associated with an electronic record. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- Principal: means :
(a)an individual whose signature is notarized; or
(b)an individual taking an oath or affirmation from the notary public but not in the capacity of a credible or other witness for the notarial act. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- 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 Montana Code 1-5-602
- Remote notarization: means a notarial act performed by means of communication technology on a tangible record that meets the standards adopted under this part. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- Remote online notarization: means a notarial act or notarization performed by means of communication technology and an electronic notarization system on an electronic record that meets the standards adopted under this part. See Montana Code 1-5-602
- 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 Montana Code 1-5-602
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(b)The certificate must:
(i)be executed contemporaneously with the performance of the notarial act;
(ii)specify the notarial act performed;
(iii)identify the venue as described in 1-5-629;
(iv)identify the name of the principal, the type of record and issuing entity that is copied, or the information the notarial officer has certified under 1-5-603(11);
(v)be signed and dated by the notarial officer. If the notarial officer is a notary public, a clerk of court, a deputy clerk of court, a clerk and recorder, a deputy clerk and recorder, the state registrar, or the authorized agent of the state registrar, the certificate must be signed in the same manner as on file with the secretary of state.
(vi)contain the title of the office of the notarial officer; and
(vii)contain the impression or electronic image of the notary public’s official stamp or the notarial officer’s seal.
(2)(a) The certificate for a notarial act on a tangible record must be part of or securely affixed to the record.
(b)The certificate for a notarial act on an electronic record must be attached to or logically associated with the record.
(3)A certificate of a remote notarization or remote online notarization must include the information specified in subsection (1)(b), indicate that the notarial act was performed using communication technology, and include any other information required by rule.
(4)A certificate of a notarial act is sufficient if the certificate meets the requirements of subsections (1) through (3) and this subsection and:
(a)is in the short form set forth in 1-5-610;
(b)is in a form otherwise permitted by the law of this state;
(c)is in a form permitted by the laws applicable in the jurisdiction in which the notarial act was performed; or
(d)sets forth the actions of the notarial officer and the actions are sufficient to meet the requirements of the notarial act as provided in 1-5-610, 1-5-616, and this section or of the laws of this state other than specified in this part.
(5)(a) A notary public may subsequently correct any information included on or omitted from a certificate executed by that notary if the change or correction can be evidenced by the information contained in the notary’s journal record of the transaction.
(b)A notary public may not change or correct an impression or electronic image of an official stamp but may affix a subsequent impression on a tangible record or attach or logically associate with an electronic record an electronic image of a missing, illegible, or incorrect official stamp.
(c)Any changes or corrections must be dated and initialed by the notary public and a corresponding notation of the changes must be made in the journal record. Only the notary public who performed the notarization may make or authorize a change or correction to a previously completed certificate. If a notary public authorizes a third party to change or correct the information included or omitted on a previously completed certificate, the authorization must be granted in writing and a copy of the message authorizing the change and a copy of the changed certificate must be attached to the notary public’s journal record for that transaction.