Self-Notarization — Prohibited

Government Code §8224 prohibits a notary public from performing a notarial act in which they have a direct financial or beneficial interest. Signing a document as a principal is the clearest possible example of such an interest — the notary is personally executing the instrument and therefore cannot also serve as the officer who certifies the act (Government Code §8224).

This prohibition is absolute. It applies regardless of the document type, the dollar amount, or whether anyone else is harmed. A notary who signs a document and then stamps and signs their own notarial certificate on it has performed an invalid notarization — the certificate has no legal effect, and the notary has committed misconduct subject to commission action.

The prohibition extends to any document in which the notary is named as a party, beneficiary, trustee in their individual capacity, or otherwise has a personal stake in the outcome. In all such cases, another commissioned notary must be obtained to perform the notarial act.

Exam Tip: Self-notarization is one of the most straightforward prohibitions in California notary law — yet exam questions test it regularly, sometimes in disguised scenarios. Any question where the notary is both signing and notarizing the same document has only one correct answer: prohibited. There are no exceptions based on urgency, consent of other parties, or the minor nature of the document.