What changes, and what does not
What you certify stays the same; how you see the signer changes. Texas’s Secretary of State defines it: “Online notarization is a notarial act performed by an online notary by means of two-way video and audio conference technology that meets the standards adopted by the Office for such actions including credential analysis and identity proofing.”
Nor is every electronic signature a signing by video. In the same office’s words, “An electronic notarization is not the same as a remote online notarization.” For an electronic notarization in Texas, “both the notary public performing the notarization and the person signing the document must be physically present at the time of the notarization.”
What the rule sets say of it
Of the rule sets for the fifty states and D.C., 45 say a notary commissioned there may notarize by video today. For California and one other they say not yet; for one other, not yet, apart from an emergency video notarization; for two others, that it is not allowed; for one other, nothing is established here.
| State | By video | Before the first one |
|---|---|---|
| California | Not yet | Registration with the Secretary of State as an online notary (when the Act is operative) |
| Texas | Allowed since July 1, 2018 | A commission from the Secretary of State as an online notary public (a traditional commission alone does not allow it) |
| Florida | Allowed since January 1, 2020 | Registration with the Department of State as an online notary public (a course, the fee, a $25,000 bond, $25,000 errors-and-omissions insurance, and the RON providers named) |
From Hand & Seal’s rule sets, drafted from the statutes listed under Sources: checked against the statute’s text on October 4, 2026; not yet reviewed by an attorney. States change these rules as new laws take effect: your state’s commissioning office has the last word.
What else the three rule sets say of it — some of what each state asks, not all of it:
- California. Keep in mind: The Online Notarization Act (SB 696) is law but not operative: no California notary may notarize online until the Secretary of State completes its system — due by January 1, 2030, unless it tells the Legislature by January 1, 2029 that it is not ready. Until then the signer must appear in person.
- Texas. The recording: The recording is part of the online notarization’s records, kept 5 years with a backup (1 TAC § 87.54). The journal: An electronic record of each online notarization, kept 5 years with a backup (Tex. Gov’t Code § 406.108; 1 TAC § 87.54).
- Florida. Keep in mind: The notary must be physically in Florida; the signer may be anywhere. No marriages. The recording: The audio-video recording of every online notarization, kept at least 10 years (a will’s signing: by a qualified custodian). The journal: A secure electronic journal of online notarizations, with a backup, kept at least 10 years (§ 117.245).
What it takes
- Your state’s step, first. Your state’s rules say what it asks before the first act by video. Take it before you book one.
- A platform your state accepts. Where your state approves the platforms or keeps a list of them, use one that is on it. The session runs there.
- The signer’s identity, checked. Texas’s Secretary of State defines checks made of a signer there: “Credential Analysis is a process by which the validity of a government-issued identification credential is affirmed by a third-party through review of public and proprietary data sources.” and “Identity Proofing is the process by which the identity of an individual is affirmed by a third-party through review of public and proprietary data sources.” Whether you may also rely on knowing the signer, or on a credible witness, by video is your state’s to say.
- The recording, where your state asks for one, and the journal it asks for an act by video, kept for as long as your state says, and by whom. Where your platform keeps them, make sure it keeps them that long, and that you can reach them if you ever leave it.
- Where you are, and where the signer is. Your state says where you must be while you notarize by video, and where the signer may be. Read it before a signing with someone across a state line or abroad.
What does not change
The signer still has to be identified, and you judge whether they are aware and willing, as at the table; who chooses the act is the same question as at the table; and the act goes in your journal where your state asks for one. Acknowledgment, jurat or copy certification and checking identification have the rest.
How Hand & Seal helps
It books, prices and journals a job by video where its rule set says your state allows one, once you have added what your state asks first, as the app asks for it — and refuses one anywhere else: where or when your state does not allow it, or its rule set has not established that it does. Each act by video is held to your state’s limit for acts by video, where the rule set has one, and its journal line points to your RON platform’s electronic journal. The session itself runs on that platform. See how it works.
This guide quotes Texas’s Secretary of State and draws each state from its rule set; your own state’s law decides, and its commissioning office has the last word. It is not legal advice.