If there is one book that every notary should own it's a Notary Law Primer. These are indispensable tools that contain just about everything a notary needs to know.
The title would lead one to believe that these have only to do with notary law. They are actually a whole lot more.
Using the Colorado Notary Law Primer as an example, it contains the following chapters:
- How to Become a Colorado Notary Public
- Tools of the Trade
- 10 Most-Asked Questions
- Steps to Proper Notarization
- Notary Laws Explained
- Test Your Knowledge
- Colorado Laws pertaining to Notaries Public
- Office of the Colorado Secretary of State
- County Clerks' Offices
- Bureaus of Vital Statistics
- Hague Convention Nations
The heart of the book is the section, 'Notary Laws Explained'. It goes into Colorado notary law in more detail, defining the acts that a Colorado notary can perform, things that a notary is unauthorized to do, the various types of notarizations, practices and procedures, ... in short, everything a notary needs to know.
The 'Test Your Knowledge' section is a good way to see how well you have learned the material. And the answers are provided so that you can see how you did.
The section on 'Colorado Laws Pertaining to Notaries Public' contains all of the Colorado Revised Statutes as they pertain to notaries. This latest edition came out in 2004. Some of the notary laws have changed since then, so you will want to check to make sure that the laws in your book are current. Visit the Colorado Secretary of State website.
The real beauty of this reference work is that it is compact enough that you can carry it wherever you go, and refer to it whenever you have a question. And you might want to have it spiral bound, as I did. It's perfect bound, so the pages will eventually come out if you refer to it very often.
The Notary Law Primers are published by the NNA. Presently they are only available for 26 states. I contacted the NNA and asked why there was not a Notary Law Primer for all of the states. I was told that they have the ultimate goal of creating law primers for all the states, which is good news. These are very good resources. I was told that, in the last four years they have added Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Virginia.
** States for which there is a notary law primer available:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington
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