Notary Public Conflict of Interest

It is lawful for a Notary Public to notarize documents for anyone, including relatives, if the notary public does not have a personal conflict of interest in the notarial act. It is also lawful for a Notary Public to act for another person who has direct financial or beneficial interest in the transaction as an agent, an employee, an insurer, an attorney, an escrow holder or a lender of that person.

Conflicts of Interest would include the following:

• The Notary Public has a direct financial or beneficial interest in the documents being notarized;
• The Notary Public is named individually as a principal to a financial transaction;
• The Notary Public is named individually as the beneficiary, grantor, grantee, mortgagor, mortgagee, trustor, trustee, vendor, vendee, lessor, or lesee in any real property transaction;

If there is any doubt about whether to notarize, the Notary Public should seek the advice of an attorney.

Special care should be taken by Notaries Public in cases of notarizing documents for a spouse or domestic partner due to California community property law.