In April 2023, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law a supplemental budget bill that included new laws allowing for use of remote online notarizations. The bill, entitled “Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023”, contains several sections which modify existing laws on notarial acts and create a new ability to satisfy personal appearance of a signer using remote communication technology.
The bill will require two methods of identity proofing any signer, similar to other state requirements, including options such as a Knowledge-Based Authentication Assessment to satisfy those requirements. Notaries will be required to register with the state before completing notarizations using communication technology. The state secretary is required to establish standards for approval of technology providers and to maintain a registry of approved providers for both the communication technology used to complete remote notarizations and identity proofing.
Notaries will be required to indicate on a completed notarial certificate when a notarial act is performed remotely using communication technology and must identify the county that the notary is physically present in while performing the notary act. The signatory can sign electronically from any location, including foreign counties. Massachusetts previously had a temporary remote notarization practice during the COVID-19 pandemic that required both the notary and the signatory to be located in the state.
Massachusetts is an ‘attorney state” which requires a real estate attorney to direct and oversee all real estate closings. The new laws preserve the role of the attorney in the remote real estate closing process. An attorney conducting a closing is required to register their bar number on the notarial certificate as part of the remote notarization.
While some provisions of the updated notarial laws went into effect 90 days after the bill was signed into law, other provisions become effective on January 1, 2024, at which time a remote online notarization can be completed in Massachusetts.
