[WSBAPT] Notary to POA named as successor Agent

[Joshua McKarcher]

Julie,

I “think” the formal analysis is this, but you need to confirm:

  1.
Bad form by the notary. I come nowhere near notarizing documents that name my law firm (PLLC entity) as agent, trustee, or PR. This is why.
  2.
If I’m not mistaken, the statutes and regulations (do check the WACs) effectively say the document is NOT PER SE (or something like “facially”) INVALID for one of these missteps by the notary. Rather, the misstep is a basis for some third party to decline to ACT or RELY upon the notarial act — IF THEY CHOOSE TO. That’s very different. (If the mistake was innocent, and the person is trustworthy, the law may permit third parties to forgive the error, but “at their own risk.”)
  3.
You will find this general approach in a close reading of the statutes and WACs, I am nearly certain. The RON rules would be easy to get wrong in some small detail; but we don’t invalidate all RONs, for example. We rule-abiding lawyers just might not think to read these rules “from this angle” until some obnoxious lawyer like me suggests we do so. 😜

All my best, Josh

Joshua D. McKarcher
McKarcher Law PLLC
537 6th Street
Clarkston, WA 99403
(509) 758-3345
(509) 758-3314 (fax)
josh at mckarcherlaw.com
www.mckarcherlaw.com<http://www.mckarcherlaw.com>
________________________________
From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Julie Martiniello <julie at dimensionlaw.com>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2025 8:02:17 AM
To: Trust and Probate Section <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Notary to POA named as successor Agent

Hello All,

I have a Power of Attorney, where the notary that notarized the POA,  is also named as the back-up Agent. I know RCW 42.45.020 says a notary cannot notarize a document they have a beneficial interest in. I believe that would be the case here, even though it can be argued what "beneficial interest" means. Do you think the notary would be void as to the primary named agent too?

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