What can a notary do, and what can't they?

A notary's job is narrow on purpose: they make sure the person signing is who they say they are, and that they sign willingly — and they record that they did.

A notary can:

• check each signer's identification, and that they're signing of their own free will;
• watch them sign, or take their oath, and complete the notary's part of the document — the certificate, with their signature and seal;
• write the signing in their journal, where their state asks for one;
• say no to a signing they can't notarize — a signer without acceptable identification, for example.

In most states, being a notary doesn't let someone who is not an attorney give legal advice or draft legal documents. That includes advising you whether to sign.

Depending on the state, it also doesn't let them:

• choose which kind of notarization your document needs — an acknowledgment, a jurat or another. Your document, or whoever asked you for it, says which;
• explain what the document means, or what signing it will do.

The request form says what holds in the state of the notary you're asking, before you send.