For an honest, conscientious, knowlegeable, professional
and prudent Notary Public to perform a Notarial Act,
several factors must be taken into consideration.
If the requirements are not met, a Notary Public
MUST (by state law) refuse to notarize.
A Notary MUST Refuse to Notarize if:
cannot be identified by one of the other two methods
acceptable under Hawaii law;
identification presented;
The Signer's signature on the I.D., on the document and in the
Notary's Journal are not substantially similar, or there are other indications that lead the Notary to believe false
identification has been presented;
The Document is "incomplete" (i.e., lists exhibits or attachments as
being part of the document but they are missing from the
document(s) presented for notarization, or pages are missing from
the document, or the signer presents only the signature page of a
document);
The Document contains "blank" lines (unless they are addressed
by the signer prior to notarization). The document notarized
must be "complete." A signer cannot be said to have been
"aware" of the contents of the document and signed it "willingly"
if the document is not complete;
The Notary is unable to communicate (by voice or in writing)
with the signer (due to language or health issues) which
is are the methods used by the Notary to determine
willingness and awareness;
The Document is not one that can be legally notarized (Birth
Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Death Certificates,
Passports, school diplomas or transcripts, etc.).
The Notary knows/learns, or has good reason to believe,
that the document being notarized is part of a false,
fraudulent or illegal transaction OR that the signer
is being coerced or forced to sign against the signer's will.
If a Notary Public must refuse to notarize a document, that Notary Public should explain to the signer exactly why the Notary is unable to notarize for them and offer information on ways in which the signer
may be able to correct any deficiencies so that
the document(s) may be legally notarized
once the problems are corrected.
A Notary MAY NOT refuse service on the basis of race, religion, nationality, lifestyle, or because the person is not a client or customer.
