HLS 12RS-1060 ORIGINAL
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are additions.
Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE BILL NO. 928
BY REPRESENTATIVES ANDERS, ARNOLD, CHANEY, HOFFMANN, HUVAL,
JOHNSON, PONTI, AND SEABAUGH
NOTARIES: Provides limitations on the authority of non-attorney notaries
AN ACT1
To amend and reenact R.S. 35:191(P)(1)(b) and 191.1(B), and to enact R.S. 35:2(D) and2
191.1(C), relative to notaries public; to provide for limitations of authority; to3
provide for statewide jurisdiction; to provide for revisions to the notarial4
examination; to applicability to certain notaries; and to provide for related matters.5
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:6
Section 1. R.S. 35:191(P)(1)(b) and 191.1(B) are hereby amended and reenacted, and7
R.S. 35:2(D) and 191.1(C) are hereby enacted to read as follows: 8
§2. General powers; administration of certain oaths in any parish; true copies ;9
limitations of authority10
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D.(1) Notwithstanding Subsections A through C of this Section, or any other12
law to the contrary, non-attorney notaries receiving their statewide notary13
commissions in Louisiana on or after August 15, 2012, shall not have authority to do14
any of the following:15
(a) Draft and prepare a last will and testament or donation mortis causa.16
(b) Draft and prepare a trust.17
(c) Draft or prepare an act of sale, act of donation, or any other document18
that transfers title to immovable property.19 HLS 12RS-1060 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 928
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(2) Non-attorney notaries that are commissioned before August 15, 2012,1
shall not be subject to the provisions of this Subsection.2
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§191. Appointment; qualifications; examination; jurisdiction4
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P.(1)6
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(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, each8
person who is a validly appointed notary public in and for any parish in this state and9
who has taken and passed the written examination, as provided in R.S. 35:191.1 on10
or after June 13, 2005, may exercise the functions of a notary public in every parish11
in this state.12
(2) All persons that have passed both the multiple choice and research13
portions of the statewide uniform notary exam between June 1, 2009 and June 30,14
2012, shall become commissioned as Louisiana notaries with statewide jurisdiction15
on August 15, 2012.16
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§191.1. Secretary of state; uniform statewide standards, rules, and procedures for18
notarial examinations; revision of examinations19
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B.(1) The secretary of state shall revise the statewide uniform notary exam21
to ensure that the subjects of wills, trusts, transfers and donations of immovable22
property are not included in future exams given after August 15, 2012.23
(2) Statewide notary exams given after August 15, 2012, shall include a24
multiple choice section and a research section, but shall not include a scenarios25
section.26
C. The secretary of state shall also:27
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HB NO. 928
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
Anders HB No. 928
Abstract: Removes the authority of non-attorney notaries to prepare such documents as
wills, trusts, and property transfers, removes those subjects from the notarial
examination, and exempts from the limitations of authority those non-attorney
notaries commissioned before Aug. 15, 2012.
Present law authorizes non-attorney notaries to make inventories, appraisements, and
partitions; to receive wills, make protests, matrimonial contracts, conveyances, and
generally, all contracts and instruments of writing; to hold family meetings and meetings of
creditors; to receive acknowledgments of instruments under private signature; to make
affidavits of correction; and to affix the seals upon the effects of deceased persons.
Proposed law removes the authority of a non-attorney notary to prepare a last will and
testament or donation mortis causa, prepare a trust, prepare an act of sale, donation, or any
other document that transfers title to immovable property.
Provides that the limitations provided by proposed law shall not apply to notaries
commissioned before Aug. 15, 2012.
Present law provides that each person who passes the uniform notarial exam after June 13,
2005, shall have statewide notarial authority.
Proposed law provides that all persons who passed both the multiple choice and research
portions of the uniform exam between June 1, 2009, and June 30, 2012, shall have statewide
notarial authority.
Proposed law requires the secretary of state to revise the uniform notarial exams given after
Aug. 15, 2012, not to include the subjects of wills, trusts, and transfers and donations of
immovable property, and to exclude a scenarios section.
(Amends R.S. 35:191(P)(1)(b) and 191.1(B); Adds R.S. 35:2(D) and 191.1(C))