Category Archives: Notary Laws

The NNA is reporting the enactment of House Bill 761 because it repeals a notarization requirement instead of adding one in certain cases of domestic violence. Repealing sworn oath and affirmation requirements is a trend today. While the NNA certainly understands the difficulty some petitioners may have in finding a Notary and incurring the expense of a notarial act, we cannot help but believe that having a Notary involved in such a serious public safety matter is the better choice for the petitioner and the alleged perpetrator of domestic violence. Having to go before a Notary to swear to the truthfulness of the petition is, in the NNA’s view, necessary “friction” that confronts and compels the petitioner to be truthful and protects the rights of all involved.

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From the summary staff analysis prepared for the bill’s hearing before the House Health & Human Services Committee: “Adult day health care is a program established by the VA with the goal of allowing veterans to have a place during the day for social activities, peer support, companionship, and recreation. The program is intended for veterans who need help with activities of daily living, who are isolated, or whose caregiver is experiencing burden. State law recognizes adult day care centers. However, facilities that operate under the federal government or any agency thereof are exempt from current state law pertaining to adult day care centers and regulation by the Agency for Health Care Administration.”

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Under current Florida law, deeds conveying title to or an interest in real property must, in addition to the notarization of the grantor(s) signature(s), be witnessed by two witnesses (FS 695.01). Few states have such a rule, but Florida Notary Signing Agents and Notary Signing Agents of other states who handle Florida deeds are familiar with this requirement. House Bill 1419 now requires the post office address of each witness to be legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped on the deed. Notary Signing Agents therefore should be aware of this new requirement.

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During the past five years, over 30 states have enacted remote notarization laws for the first time. To our knowledge, Florida is the first state to amend its remote notarization laws following enactment. House Bill 121, which takes effect January 1, 2022, makes several significant changes. First, it no longer allows a Notary to delegate the responsibility of maintaining audio-visual recordings of online notarizations, but now puts that responsibility on the remote online notarization system providers. Once delegated, the repository then must assume all the responsibilities of providing access to and copies of these recordings.

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Under current Florida law, deeds conveying title to or an interest in real property must, in addition to the notarization of the grantor(s) signature(s), be witnessed by two witnesses (FS 695.01). Few states have such a rule, but Florida Notary Signing Agents and Notary Signing Agents of other states who handle Florida deeds are familiar with this requirement. House Bill 1419 now requires the post office address of each witness to be legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped on the deed. Notary Signing Agents therefore should be aware of this new requirement.

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Florida had previously authorized the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to develop a mobile driver’s license and identification card and it had done so. House Bill 1313 now requires the implementation of these electronic credentials. The technology behind these mobile IDs is robust. In other states with similar implementations, the individual must download an app issued by the vendor contracting with the Department from the Apple App Store or from the Google Play Store that resides on their phone.

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When Florida enacted its online notarization statute in 2019, it also enacted provisions related to the witnessing of electronic records, such as the witnessing of a will, for which a Notary may be involved. The effect of House Bill 483 is to clarify that online notarization procedures still apply in circumstances where an electronic document requires witnesses but not notarization. Further, the bill makes an online Notary’s supervision of an electronic record’s witnessing is a notarial act.

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From time to time state legislatures go back into their state codes to make updates and to correct typographical errors that were not discovered during the process of enacting legislation. Such is the case with Senate Bill 596. The changes made to three sections appearing in the Notary statutes of Florida Statutes Chapter 117 do not affect the substance of these sections.

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House Bill 409 is a massive new law that modifies Florida’s existing Notary statutes and adds new provisions for online notarization. One notable change to the Notary statutes is the new requirement that a certificate of acknowledgment or jurat specify whether the principal appeared physically before the Notary or by means of audio-video communication. But most of the bill deals with the requirements for registration as an online Notary, standards for performing online notarial acts, witnessing certain types of documents, keeping an electronic journal of online notarial acts, and creating and preserving a recording of the audio-video online notarial act.

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