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Volokh Conspiracy

Online Video Notaries?

They are allowed in some states, but only a small minority; should courts in other states authorize online notarization on an emergency basis?

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According to notarize.com, online video notarization is allowed in Virginia, Montana, Texas, Nevada, Minnesota, Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Vermont—but still not in most states.

I doubt most state legislatures would want to spend time focusing on this right now, but it seems to me that state courts may well have inherent powers to accept documents notarized online (for those filings that require notarization), at least for the duration of the coronavirus epidemic. Has there been any move towards that?

UPDATE: Just to be clear, here's how (according to notarize.com) the process works:

[1.] Upload a Document: Notarize any document by uploading it to your computer, iPhone, or Android phone. You can access documents from your email, by taking a picture on your phone, or through cloud storage services like Dropbox.

[2.] Prove Your Identity: Notarize uses a patent-pending forensic analysis to verify government issued photo IDs and passports. Take a picture of your government issued ID, answer a few questions, and Notarize will confirm your identity in seconds.

[3.] Connect with a Live Notary Agent: Connect with a licensed electronic notary public over live video to sign your document. The Notarize agent will confirm your identity, witness your signature and assist you throughout the process.

[4.] Save and share your notarized documents: Now you can download or share your notarized document. Completed document will be stored in your safe and secure Notarize account, if you ever need it in the future.