The Secretary of State seems to say no: “A Notary public may not be a signature witness and notarize the same document.” The Secretary of State relies on MCL 55.291, which sets forth prohibited conduct for notaries and includes “[n]otarize his or her own signature.” MCL 55.291(2)(b).
The requirements for the execution of a durable power of attorney, under MCL 700.5501(2), provide that the document must be one or both of the following:
(a) Signed in the presence of 2 witnesses, neither of whom is the attorney-in-fact, and both of whom also sign the durable power of attorney.
(b) Acknowledged by the principal before a notary public, who endorses on the durable power of attorney a certificate of that acknowledgment and the true date of taking the acknowledgment.
These requirements mandate that only the signature of the principal, not the witnesses, be notarized. This appears to leave wiggle room to allow a notary to witness and notarize the durable power of attorney because the notary would not be notarizing their own signature as a witness, just the principal’s signature.
The good news is that certainty may be on the way. The Probate and Estate Planning Council of the State Bar of Michigan is currently reviewing the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. Section 105 of the current draft provides that a power of attorney under the act will be durable if it is “signed in the presence of 2 witnesses, neither of whom is an agent nominated in the power, both of whom also sign the power, and one of whom may be an individual who also acts, in the execution of the power, as a notary public or person authorized by law to take acknowledgments.” (Emphasis added.)