Posted by RJM on 10/15/07 2:13pm
Msg #216560

Conflict of Interest issue

My roommate/boyfriend is separated & filing for a divorce. He prepared his own divorce documents and asked me to notarize them. (I am a Notary in the state of Maine). I do not believe that it is a conflict of interest since he is not related to me and is signing them on his own free will. I would like to hear anyone elses opinion on the matter.

Reply by Pete/MD on 10/15/07 2:16pm
Msg #216561

I'd venture to say it's not a conflict n/m

Reply by RJM on 10/15/07 2:27pm
Msg #216563

Re: I'd venture to say it's not a conflict

Thanks for the input....I didn't think that it would be. I just checked with the NNA advice line and they said that it was not illegal to do it, but advised me that I probably shouldn't since I am indirectly involved in the situation.

Reply by BrendaTx on 10/15/07 2:28pm
Msg #216565

Give him ten bucks and send him to town. It's not worth it to mess with the soon to be ex- spouse.

JMHO

Reply by Gerry_VT on 10/15/07 2:28pm
Msg #216566

Compare the trouble of going down to the bank and getting them notarized, to the trouble of explaining why it isn't a conflict of interest to anyone who might raise the issue. You may well decide it's less trouble to go to the bank.

Reply by LJ on 10/15/07 2:50pm
Msg #216569

I know all ex's aren't alike, but wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole. JMO

Reply by Phillip/TX on 10/15/07 2:52pm
Msg #216570

You could be "dragged" into the mess later on, I would steer clear of it myself. Send him to the bank or his local insurance agency.

Reply by BrendaTx on 10/15/07 3:03pm
Msg #216571

Rules when notarizing for friends/family:

If you have even the slightest blush of concern about conflict of interest, don't do it.

If you have to ask a notary board--you are already conflicted, it's not worth it, don't do it.

If there are two sides to "the story", don't do it.

If the sight or mention of your name will tick someone off who MAY see the document later, don't do it.

If you have to bend the rules even ever-so slightly, don't do it.

If the person is always in some kind of dysfunctional mess, don't do it.

If they often get crossways with others, don't do it.

===

Getting a notary is cheap. Pay a few bucks now to save yourself a ton of worry later.

Just remember, Murphy's Notary Law States: No notary's good deed goes unpunished. EVER.

Reply by MichiganAl on 10/15/07 3:44pm
Msg #216573

I love these rules! I smell a new blog post! n/m

Reply by BrendaTx on 10/15/07 7:09pm
Msg #216603

Re: I love these rules! Blog me, Al, Blog me!! n/m

Reply by Charles_Ca on 10/15/07 9:19pm
Msg #216618

Blog me, Al, Blog me!! Hmmmm, kinky! n/m

Reply by MichiganAl on 10/15/07 10:08pm
Msg #216622

You've been blogged. Was it good for you too? n/m

Reply by Charles_Ca on 10/15/07 11:07pm
Msg #216625

Have I just been misblogged or was that for Brenda? n/m

Reply by MichiganAl on 10/16/07 2:16am
Msg #216627

Look again, Charles. My post is under Brenda's post.

I'll blog you some other time. Minus the innuendos.

Reply by Gary_CA on 10/15/07 4:01pm
Msg #216574

What are you smoking?

It probably isn't a conflict...

The conflict comes if you have a financial interest in the document... if you get married later it could retroactively become a conflict. Even unmarried there might be some conflict depending on your finances.

A divorce decree could come to the issue of real estate title.

Gary's abridged version of Brenda's rules for notarizing for family members (immediate, distant or middle).

NO


(they don't want to pay anyway and they'll want you to do it at 6am on Sunday)

Reply by SharonMN on 10/16/07 12:58pm
Msg #216702

Interests aren't always just financial

GaryCA wrote: The conflict comes if you have a financial interest in the document...

Conflicts don't always have to be financial. It's any circumstance which might make you as the notary less than impartial. As the signer's girlfriend, I think you have a definite interest in your boyfriend not being married, so I would definitely not notarize the divorce papers. Even if it's not specifically against CA notary code, you should not do it because you have an ethical obligation as an impartial witness to the transaction.

Reply by MelissaM_FL on 10/15/07 5:12pm
Msg #216585

Personal Experience

I met a guy several years ago who I thought was really nice and we dated a few times. THEN I found out he was still married to a gal who had left him 3 years earlier. I pushed the divorce issue, even referring him to a local paralegal to get the docs done. But, I wouldn't notarize the docs for him.

I'm really glad I didn't, now. We've been married for 18 months. I'd hate for his ex to come back now and try to push a conflict of interest issue. Florida is a no-fault state for divorce, but it would bother me if I'd been the one to notarize his paperwork and I'd hate to have to justify my actions in court if she sued.

Reply by BrendaTx on 10/15/07 9:03pm
Msg #216614

Re: Personal Experience

Then there's the time a family member asked me to notarize my grandmother's will. Not even if she were in her right mind...and she wasn't. I didn't.

Reply by BrendaTx on 10/15/07 9:07pm
Msg #216615

Re: Personal Experience...and PS...

PS - aside from this benefitting my late father which would have eventually benefitted me, this group also had a penchant for the dysfunctional.

Years later my father was angry with me for awhile about any number of things...so was an aunt who also benefitted from the will...one never knows how deep a family member's love or anger will go. My then husband, later ex-husband also heard the request and my rejection of it. Now that's one who would have liked to have had something on me....but my nose was clean, and he didn't.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 10/15/07 5:43pm
Msg #216586

Not a good idea

I agree with the others that have posted in this thread. It's not technically a conflict of interest since you have no beneficial interest in the outcome, but if the divorce gets messy you could find yourself dragged into it by his soon-to-be ex-wife's attorney.

Brenda's rules can be condensed into one: if it has anything to do with family or significant others, do not get involved - even if you don't stand to benefit from it.

Reply by BrendaTx on 10/15/07 9:01pm
Msg #216612

Re: Not a good idea

Here's where I think we can take the family thing too far...some people are in business with their parents, or siblings. Given that scenario, there are times that one of the family members would naturally be a notary.

There are all kind of innocent friend/family situations where notarizing for a family member isn't harmful. But don't be foolish. Refer to my "rules."

I have done notarizations for both family and friends when it was straight stuff and all things were in order. And, I have turned down both family and friends. It ticks them off. But, don't worry...they'll come back around again when they need to use you.

Reply by ZeeCA on 10/15/07 6:05pm
Msg #216590

i completely disagree that there is a question that this

would NOT be... even if just renting a room from you smacks of it and if you are dating impossible that it would NOT be...

but hey JMO............