Category Archives: Notary Laws

In Florida, the statute prescribes the specific forms of written identification that a Notary may accept from a signer to verify the signer’s identity. HB 401 expands the list of approved IDs to include a veterans health ID issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. According to the bill analysis for HB 401, a veterans health ID card is used for identification and check-in at VA appointments. The card contains a photo, a member identification number, a plan identification number, the branch of service, and any special awards. For increased security, a veteran must show one form of primary identification and one form of secondary identification when requesting a VHIC.

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Seeking to standardize how Florida refers to the process of voting absentee, Senate Bill 112 makes a global change throughout the Florida Statutes to replace the term “absentee” with vote-by-mail.” Section 117.05(2)(b), prohibiting Notaries from charging a fee to notarizing an absentee ballot, is one of many places where the new term is applied. There is no policy change affecting Notaries under SB 112. Notaries may not charge a fee for notarizing a “vote-by-mail” ballot just as they cannot notarize an absentee ballot under current law.

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In Florida, certain correctional officers are authorized to administer oaths in the performance of their duties. For example, when taking the report in a criminal investigation or traffic accident, an officer will need to have his or her signature notarized under oath, or administer an oath to an affiant during the investigation or accident. Under current law, these oaths must be administered in person. SB 526 now will allow the oaths to be administered remotely. Any electronic means utilized in administering an oath must comply with criminal justice information systems security measures.

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Prior to January 1, 1992, Florida Notaries were allowed to use an embosser as the official seal. However, consistent with the move toward requiring Notaries to use a Notary seal that is photographically reproducible, Florida enacted a law requiring Notaries to use a rubber stamp inking seal. The law contained a grandfather clause that allowed Notaries whose commissions extended beyond January 1, 1992 to continue to use an embosser until such time that they were reappointed. Thus, effective January 1, 1996, all Florida Notaries had transitioned to using a rubber stamp seal. Senate Bill 934, a bill correcting many sections throughout the Florida Statutes, removed this long obsolete provision from the Florida Statutes 117.05(3)(b).

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House Bill 841 adopts certain provisions of the Uniform Power of Attorney Act adopted by the Uniform Law Commission. Florida’s Notary statutes already allow a Notary to sign for a person who is unable to sign, and HB 841 clarifies that a Notary may use this signing procedure when asked to notarize a power of attorney.

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Rulemaking is the express authority delegated by the Legislature for an administrative agency to adopt policy statements that implement or interpret statute. House Bill 7055 repeals statutory provisions authorizing rulemaking. A number of statutes authorizing rulemaking have proven unnecessary or for other reasons have never been used. Some statutes contain unnecessary, confusing, or obsolete rulemaking language. The Department of State (DOS) had been granted rulemaking authority to publish rules related to the issuance of apostilles for the authentic acts of Florida civil law Notaries, but DOS has not used the rulemaking authority for implementation of the section and did not object to its repeal.

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Florida modifies its power of attorney statutes. Florida’s enactment requires a power of attorney to be acknowledged before a Notary Public and witnessed by two subscribing witness. In line with other states that have adopted the Act, Florida’s enactment permits a power of attorney to be electronically signed, and by inference, electronically notarized. Notaries should take note that the Act explicitly states that an agent, if a natural person, must be at least 18 years of age or older. Thus, if an agent presents a power of attorney to a Notary as proof of representative capacity in order for the agent to sign documents in the principal’s name and this agent is not at least 18 years of age, the Notary should decline to notarize for this individual. 

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Florida enacts the first electronic notarization statute written to conform to the national standards for electronic notarization published by the National Association of Secretaries of State. House Bill 1305 was enacted to ensure that electronic notarizations enjoy the same level of credibility and trust as paper notarizations. Florida was among the first states to pass an electronic notarization law in the mid-1990’s, but it was judged to be ahead of its time and was subsequently repealed a year later. The NNA’s Electronic Notary Seal meets the requirements in the law for a Notary’s electronic signature (see point #3).

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