Notary Handbook - the Montana Secretary of State Website

Here’s how the previous signature blocks should be completed:
1. The basic signature block should be completed like this:
State of Montana
County of _Yellowstone___
This instrument was signed before me on __May 5 , 2012___ by ___John Doe (only)_______.
Print name of signer(s)
Affix seal/stamp as close to
signature as possible.
_____L E Egan___________________________
Notary Signature
[Montana notaries must complete the following,
if not part of stamp.]
_________________________________________
Printed Name
Notary Public for the state of _________________
Residing at________________________________
My Commission expires:___________, 20_______
2. This is how to complete a more elaborate notarial block:
In the County of ___Yellowstone_____, State of ___Montana______, on this _5th__ day of _May____, _2012 , before me,
the undersigned Notary Public personally appeared _John Doe (only)_____________, who was personally known to
me, proved to me through documentary evidence, or identified by a credible witness to be the person named in the
foregoing, and executed the same.
Affix seal/stamp as close to
signature as possible.
_____L E Egan___________________________
Notary Signature
[Montana notaries must complete the following,
if not part of stamp.]
_________________________________________
Printed Name
Notary Public for the state of _________________
Residing at________________________________
My Commission expires:___________, 20_______
Notes:
The format of the notarial block may vary, as seen in the above examples; as long as all information
required by law is included, the style of the notarial block is not important.
The key words to look for to determine whether you are to witness the signature are “signed,”
“subscribed,” or “executed.”
It is a good habit to enter the word “only” in parentheses after entering the name(s) of the
signer(s), so that additional names cannot be entered later in an attempt to indicate that other
signatures were notarized.
If you have the combination seal/stamp you don’t have to enter the information below your
signature – it’s in the stamp!
A diagonal line through the last part of the form will indicate that the information has not been
forgotten or ignored, but is contained in the stamp.
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