ME House Paper 1033

(Note: H 1033 extended Governor Mills’ Executive Order 37 virtually verbatim, but with the changes noted below. To read the main provisions of the new law, see the NNA’s new law update on Executive Order 37.)

1. Requires the Signatory to send the original signed document directly to the witness within 96 hours (previously 48 hours) after the signatory signs the document, or to the Notary if no witness is involved.
2. Requires the witness to sign the document within 96 hours (previously 48 hours) after receiving the original document from the Signatory, and sent it to the second witness, if any, or to the Notary if no other witness is involved.
3. Requires the Notary, upon review of the original document and satisfactory comparison with the faxed or electronic document provided on the date of signing, to notarize the original document within 96 hours (previously 48 hours) of receipt, and clarifies that the official date and time of the notarization shall be the date and time when the Notary witnessed the signature via the two-way audio-video technology.
4. Requires the Notary to add the following language below the Notary and or Witness signature lines: "Notarized (and/or Witnessed) remotely, in accordance with Maine Revised Statutes, Title 4 section 961".
5. Requires the Secretary of State to study remote and online notarization and develop recommendations for permanently implementing remote and online notarization, and submit a report by February 1, 2022, covering the recommendations of the study and any other recommendations related to the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts to the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary.