Regulator
Pennsylvania DOS and Montana Secretary of State
Professional Review
Pennsylvania and Montana Notary Education
Shared bilingual notary education core with Pennsylvania-specific and Montana-specific modules, electronic notarization, RON concepts, ethics, procedures, and exam-prep coverage.
Duration
PA 3 hours; MT 4 hours plus optional 2-hour RON add-on
Planned Price
$19-$29 after approval
Audience
Pennsylvania and Montana notary applicants or renewing notaries after regulator approval.
Approval Boundary
PA explicitly bars offering the course before approval. Montana requires pre-approved provider listing for the course to count.
Owner Action
Owner must confirm PA fee, submit the PA application, and open the Montana SOS provider-review conversation.
Prepared Modules
The bilingual modules are authored for review. Enrollment, payment, certificates, and any credit claim stay closed until written approval.
1 - 4 checks
PENNSYLVANIA (basic/qualifying course core curriculum, per PA DOS regs): statutes, regulations, procedures, and ethics relevant to notarial acts
- Identify the core authority governing Pennsylvania notaries — the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), 57 Pa.C.S. Ch. 3 — and describe the categories of notarial acts a Pennsylvania notary may perform.
- Apply the statutory requirements for personal appearance, satisfactory evidence of identity, and proper certificate completion to a real-world notarization, and recognize when a notary must refuse to act.
- Explain the ethical and record-keeping duties (journal entries, seal use, conflicts of interest, and prohibited acts) that protect the public and the integrity of the notarial act under PA Department of State regulations.
2 - 4 checks
PA: duties and responsibilities of the office of notary public
- Identify the core statutory duties a Pennsylvania notary public owes to the public, including personal appearance, signer identification, and recordkeeping under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), 57 Pa.C.S. §§ 301–331.
- Apply the standard for satisfactory evidence of identity and the requirement to refuse an act when the signer lacks competence or voluntariness, citing 57 Pa.C.S. § 306 and § 304.
- Distinguish the notary's impartial, ministerial role from the unauthorized practice of law and explain the journal and seal duties under 57 Pa.C.S. § 319 and § 318.
3 - 4 checks
PA: electronic notarization (must be in the core curriculum)
- Distinguish Pennsylvania's three notarization channels — traditional paper, electronic notarization (eNotarization), and remote online notarization (RON) — and identify the statutory authority for each under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA), 57 Pa.C.S. Ch. 3.
- Apply the Pennsylvania Department of State requirements for electronic notarization, including the obligation to notify the Department and select an approved solution provider before performing electronic acts, the personal-appearance rule, and the tamper-evident electronic seal and signature components required by 57 Pa.C.S. § 306.1 and 4 Pa. Code Ch. 168.
- Execute a compliant Pennsylvania electronic notarial act on an electronic record — verifying identity, attaching the electronic signature and seal, and completing the certificate — and recognize when an act may NOT be performed electronically.
4 - 4 checks
PA continuing-education (reappointment) courses: topics that ensure maintenance and enhancement of the skill, knowledge, and competency necessary to perform notarial acts (more advanced content than the initial-appointment course)
- Explain Pennsylvania's reappointment-education requirement under RULONA and 4 Pa. Code Ch. 167, and distinguish the more advanced competency-maintenance topics a reappointment course must cover from the foundational topics of the initial-appointment course.
- Apply advanced notarial judgment to harder fact patterns — refusing a defective act, handling signers who lack capacity or who appear under duress, and correctly distinguishing acknowledgments, jurats, copy certifications, and verifications of fact.
- Execute the heightened record-keeping, identification, and electronic/remote notarization duties (the journal, satisfactory-evidence-of-identity standard, and RON safeguards) that separate a competent renewing notary from a first-day appointee.
5 - 4 checks
MONTANA (per ARM / SOS): all presentations must be Montana-state-specific and provide instruction on the rules, procedures, and ethical obligations relevant to Montana notary laws
- Identify the Montana statutory and administrative authorities that govern notarial acts, including the Montana Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (Title 1, Chapter 5, Part 6, MCA) and the Secretary of State's administrative rules (ARM Title 44, Chapter 15).
- Apply Montana's personal-appearance, satisfactory-evidence-of-identity, and journal/stamp requirements to common notarizations, and correctly use the Montana provisions for remote online notarization.
- Recognize the ethical duties and disqualifying conflicts of interest a Montana notary must observe, including refusal grounds and the prohibition on notarizing when the notary is a party or beneficiary.
6 - 4 checks
MT: course must satisfy the education requirement under 1-5-620(2), MCA (4-hour qualifying course for new applicants) or 1-5-615(3)(c), MCA (continuing education for renewals)
- Identify which Montana education requirement applies to a notary depending on whether the person is a new applicant or a renewing notary.
- Explain the timing, content, and provider-approval rules that a Montana qualifying or continuing-education course must meet under 1-5-620(2), MCA and 1-5-615(3)(c), MCA.
- Apply the education rules to real situations, including documenting course completion and avoiding a lapse that forces a new applicant to re-qualify.
7 - 4 checks
MT optional add-on: separate 2-hour Remote Online Notarization (RON) / notarial-technology module for notaries seeking RON authorization
- Explain what Remote Online Notarization (RON) is, how it differs from both traditional in-person notarization and in-person electronic notarization, and the core technology components a RON platform must provide — two-way audiovisual communication, credential analysis, and identity proofing (knowledge-based authentication) — as required to obtain RON authorization in a RULONA/Montana-style jurisdiction.
- Describe the procedural duties a RON notary must satisfy for a valid remote notarial act: confirming the platform and tamper-evident technology, verifying the remotely located signer's identity, confirming the signer is acting willingly and is aware of the contents, applying an electronic signature and electronic notarial seal, and creating and retaining the required audiovisual recording and electronic journal.
- Apply RON authority and its limits to a realistic remote signing — including when a remote act may be performed, what record must be kept and for how long, and when a RON notary must stop and decline because identity cannot be verified or the connection or recording fails.