Legislation

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]