CT Executive Orders (2020-2021)

Executive Order

State: Connecticut
Signed: March 24, 2020

Effective: March 24, 2020

Summary

Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 7K, which subsequently was revised by Executive Order 7Q, and was extended by Executive Orders 7ZZ, 9A, 9L, 10A, 11 and 12B to authorize temporary remote notarization during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Affects

All Connecticut Notaries and Commissioners of the Superior Court.

Changes

Executive Order 7K Provisions

Temporarily allows notarial acts to be performed for remotely located individuals for the duration of the public health and civil preparedness emergency unless earlier modified or terminated by the Governor.
Modifies all relevant Connecticut laws and regulations to permit any notarial act that is required under Connecticut law to be performed using an electronic device or process that allows a Notary Public commissioned by the Connecticut Secretary of the State pursuant to section 3-94b of the Connecticut General Statutes or a Commissioner of the Superior Court as defined by section 51-85 of the Connecticut General Statutes and a remotely located individual to communicate with each other simultaneously by sight and sound ("Communication Technology") if all rules as specified as follows are met.
Requires the person seeking the notarial act ("Signatory") from a Notary Public or Commissioner, if not personally known to the Notary Public or Commissioner, to present satisfactory evidence of identity, as defined by subsection 10 of section 3-94a of the General Statutes, while connected to the Communication Technology, not merely transmit it prior to or after the transaction.
Requires the Communication Technology to be capable of recording the complete notarial act and the recording to be made and retained by the Notary Public or Commissioner for a period of not less than 10 years.
Requires the Signatory to affirmatively represent via the Communication Technology that he or she is physically situated in the State of Connecticut.
Requires the Signatory to transmit by fax or electronic means a legible copy of the signed document directly to the Notary Public or Commissioner on the same date it was executed.
Requires the Notary Public or Commissioner to notarize the transmitted copy of the document and transmit the same back to the Signatory by fax or electronic means;
Authorizes the Notary Public or Commissioner to repeat the notarization of the original signed document as of the date of execution provided the Notary Public or Commissioner receives such original signed document, together with the electronically notarized copy, within thirty days after the date of execution.
Clarifies that only an attorney admitted to practice law in the State of Connecticut and in good standing may remotely administer a self-proving affidavit to a Last Will and Testament pursuant to section 45a-285 of the General Statutes or conduct a real estate closing as required by Public Act 19-88.

Executive Order 7Q Amendments

Requires the communication technology used to perform a remote notarial act to be capable of recording the complete notarial act and to be made and retained by the Notary (previously also required for a Commissioner) for a period of not less than 10 years.
Authorizes the Notary or Commissioner to notarize the transmitted copy of the document and transmit the same back to the signatory by fax or electronic means.
Clarifies that notwithstanding the foregoing, only a Connecticut attorney in good standing may remotely administer a self-proving affidavit to a last will and testament pursuant to Section 45a-285 of the General Statutes or conduct a real estate closing as required by Public Act 19-88.
Authorizes any witnessing requirement for a last will and testament to be satisfied remotely through the use of communication technology if it is completed under the supervision of a Commissioner, and requires the supervising Commissioner to certify that he or she supervised the remote witnessing of the last will and testament.
Suspends all witness requirements on any document, other than a last will and testament, requiring a notarial act for the duration of this Executive Order.
Requires all remotely notarized documents pertaining to real property to be accepted for recording on the land records by all Connecticut Town or City Clerks.
Requires a one-page certification confirming the use of remote notarization procedures to be attached to each remotely notarized document submitted for recording on the land records in Connecticut.
Provides that this order shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect for the duration of the public health and civil preparedness emergency unless earlier modified or terminated by the Governor.

Analysis

In Executive Order 7K, the Governor of Connecticut essentially borrows the identical provisions of New York Governor Cuomo's executive order on notarizations performed for remotely located individuals. It is an approach that does not require the use of a remote online notarization platform or electronic documents and signatures. Instead, the paper document is signed, faxed, or electronically transmitted to the Notary or Commissioner, who signs and notarizes it on paper and either faxes or sends it back using electronic means. If that version of the document is accepted by the receiving agency, no further steps are necessary. If it is not, the order allows the original signed document to be mailed to the Notary and for the Notary to "repeat" the notarization on the paper document using the date the original notarization using communication technology was performed. While the approach adopted temporarily in New York and Connecticut is a creative means for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the NNA cannot endorse these notarizations because they will lack the robust, two-factor identification protocols almost universally required for remote online notarizations and the documents are not required to be signed and notarized in a remote online notarization platform. These platforms ensure that the documents are signed electronically, are "tamper-evident," and provide an audit trail of all actions taken with respect to the electronic document.

Read Executive Order 7K.

Executive Order 7Q revises and supersedes Executive Order 7K previously issued authorizing Notaries Public and Commissioners to perform notarial acts using audio-visual technology. Only the matters that have changed from Executive Order 7K to Excutive Order 7Q are noted above under "Changes." All other provisions are the same. Mainly, the significant changes are the additional provisions related to witnessing of a last will by a Commissioner and for all remotely notarized documents affecting real property to be accepted for recording by town clerks.

Read Executive Order 7Q.
On June 16, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order 7ZZ, extending Section 3 of Executive Order 7Q for the duration of the public health emergency and civil preparedness emergency, unless earlier modified, extended, or terminated.

Note: The original public health emergency and civil preparedness emergency issued on March 10, 2020, lasted through September 9, 2020. The Governor extended the public health emergency and civil preparedness emergency on September 1, 2020, through February 9, 2020.

On September 8, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order 9A, extending all executive orders issued during the public health emergency and civil preparedness emergency, through November 10, 2020.
On November 9, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order 9L, extending all executive orders issued during the public health emergency and civil preparedness emergency, through February 9, 2021.
On February 8, 2021, the Governor issued Executive Order 10A, extending all executive orders issued during the public health emergency and civil preparedness emergency, through April 19, 2021.
On April 19, 2021, the Governor issued Executive Order 11, extending Section 3 of Executive Order 7Q through May 20, 2021.
On May 20, 2021, the Governor issued Executive Order 12B, extending Section 3 of Executive Order 7Q through June 30, 2021.