The State Bureau of Conveyances will not record any document that has interlineations, erasures, or other changes unless they are _________ by the notary.

• A. Certified
• B. Acknowledged
• C. Notarized
• D. Initialed

Answer: (D)

When a document has changes such as interlineations or erasures, the notary must initial the alterations to show they reviewed and approved them before recording. This creates a clear trail that the modifications were acknowledged by the notary and were present at the time of notarization, which helps protect against later claims of unauthorized changes and maintains the document’s integrity for recording.

Other actions don’t serve this specific safeguard: certifying or notarizing the document doesn’t by itself indicate that the changes were reviewed, and simply acknowledging a signature relates to the signer’s appearance rather than the edits themselves. Initialing directly near the changes provides the needed evidence that the alterations were authorized and observed by the notary.