Notary Seal

Question 1

How many seal stamps can you have?

Answer 1

2

Question 2

What ink color?

Answer 2

doesn’t matter but it has to be photographically reproducable so BLACK is best

Question 3

Where should the seal be?

Answer 3

It should be a locked and secure area and only available to you

Question 4

Is the seal yours or an employer

Answer 4

IT IS YOURS regardless if someone paid for it because YOU are the notary.

Question 5

Can you use your seal for anything else?

Answer 5

NO, only for notiarization purposes

Question 6

Every 4 years or when you stop notarization you…

Answer 6

must destroy your seal because you have to get a new commission number etc.

Question 7

What is on the notary seal?

Answer 7

1. Notary Name (what you put on your application, not legal name, it’s your choice to put what you want)
2. Sequential commission number
3. Words, “Notary Public”
4. WORD, “CALIFORNIA”
5. OATH and Bond
6. Expiration date
7. Great seal of california NOT county etc
8. Manufacturing ID numbers on the left/right side of seal

Question 8

Circular Seals are valid

Answer 8

yes, but they’re inconvenient because they don’t fit in most documents.

Question 9

What kind of border your seal must have?

Answer 9

Serated (rectangular) or milled edge border (circular)

Question 10

Dimensions of Seal

Answer 10

Circular cannot be more than 2 inches in diameter
rectangular cannot be more than 2.5 inches by 1 inch in diameter

YOU ARE ALLOWED to have small seals a a backup as long as they are photocopy reproducable and can be clearly seen

Question 11

impressing the seal

Answer 11

make sure seal is photographically reproducable

if running out of ink, stamp it out again
if smudges, and has too much ink, stamp it again as long as you have space

you may use your small seal to fit the space

if you have no space use a loose certificate

Question 12

what happens if your document has multiple pages?

Answer 12

put seal on 1 document and write down in journal the length of pages in document

Question 13

how to get your notary seal?

Answer 13

notary packet will be given to you which has a certificate of authorization to manufacture notary public seals

send the certificate to a certified seal manufacturing company

Question 14

Once the manufacturing company receives your seal, what will they do?

Answer 14

company stamps your seal on certificate

they send the certificate to secretary of state

Question 15

After the SOS receives your seal, what do you do next?

Answer 15

in 30 days, you have to purchase bond and file oath at county clerk’s office to become an official notary

Question 16

can you use an embosser?

Answer 16

you can use an embosser but it has to be photographically reproducible

You have to find a way to put ink in the embosser

not a common practice in california

Question 17

california subdivision maps

Answer 17

not super common
require acknowledgements
these maps don’t take ink seals
sign with a special pen they give you so it doesn’t smear

Question 18

what do you write to replace the stamp seal when you notarize a CA subdivision map

Answer 18

with the pen you write
name
county
exp date on notary seal
don’t need to write commission number