Under Maryland notary practice, which situation requires you to decline notarizing a document?

• A. The document concerns an immediate family member.
• B. The signer cannot provide a valid photo ID.
• C. The document is longer than two pages.
• D. You or your spouse are a party to the document, or you or your spouse have a financial interest in the transaction.

Answer: (D)

Notaries must remain impartial and free from conflicts of interest. In Maryland, you should decline notarizing when you or your spouse is a party to the document or has a financial interest in the transaction. That direct involvement or stake would compromise your neutrality, so the act should not be performed.

The other scenarios don’t automatically require declining. Being related to the signer isn’t a disqualifier on its own as long as there’s no party status or financial interest. Notarization requirements include identification and proper acknowledgment, so issues with ID or document length don’t inherently create a disqualifying conflict, though they may affect whether you can proceed under other rules.