Disposal of Notary Seals
Notary Best Practices: Properly Destroy Your Notary Seal From an Expired or Terminated Commission TermASN Hot Tip, Published February 2009 – Updated December 2, 2024
The Situation: ASN often receives inquiries from notaries who are unsure what to do with their official stamp or embossing seal from an expired, revoked or resigned commission term.
The Solutions: Some states have specific requirements or steps addressing this very issue. These include requiring the notary to submit the expired stamp or embossing seal to the notary’s state commissioning official or other specified entity. Same or similar requirements, depending on the notary’s state of commission, might apply to other circumstances such as commission resignation, revocation or death of the notary.
Under any circumstance that affects your active commission status, you should verify whether your state has specific instructions for the disposition of your official stamp or seal, and follow those to the letter.
If your state has no such instructions, you should protect yourself from being impersonated by someone illegally using your stamp from your expired, revoked or resigned commission. One sure-fire method is to destroy the metal (embossing seal) or rubber plates (ink stamp) that actually create your official stamp or seal impression on a document.
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True story: We know of at least one notary who “destroyed” his self-inking notary stamp by smashing the plastic stamp case with a hammer… but he left the rubber pad that makes the seal impression perfectly intact. In the wrong hands, that rubber pad with the legitimate notary’s commission information could have been affixed to a new stamp case or wooden stamp handle, and used to impersonate the real notary. |
Properly Destroy Your Notary Stamp or Seal: To destroy a self-inking notary stamp, set the case upside-down on a non-slippery surface, and push down on the case to expose the rubber pad containing your commission information. Carefully peel the rubber pad away from its base, cut the pad into small pieces, and discard the pieces into two different trashcans (so they cannot be reassembled). Also use this “peel, cut, discard” method for notary stamps that have a traditional wooden-handle base.
To destroy official commission information affixed with an embossing seal, remove the “die” insert (the piece containing the two metal plates that together, create an embossed seal impression), snap the die insert apart, and use a heavy metal file (available at any local hardware store) to deface both metal plate containing your commission information. Discard the two metal plates in separate trashcans.
Remember: Protect yourself by remembering to “neutralize” a notary stamp or embossing seal from an expired, resigned or terminated commission. It’s just a little bit of work for much peace of mind.
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