Let’s say you are at a hospital for a POA signing or Medical Directive signing. Let’s say that the signer has been officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Do you notarize or not? If you notarize, and the signing comes back to haunt you in court, the small fee you made will not be worth any significant risk of court time. However, if you can get the signer to describe the document, why they are signing it, who they are, who their relatives are, and who the president of the United States is, they are probably competent enough to sign.

Now, let’s say that a medical professional at the hospital advises you not to notarize for the patient due to this mental disease. The fact is that you are the Notary, and only you can decide the fate of the notarization. The main thing is to consider the risks, and how you can go about proving competency in a prudent way.

I would continue writing about this article, but I forgot what the topic was. Hmm.

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