| Although the article is old and contains at least one misstatement (notary must witness signing) it has a valid point in his argument about the rights of states to set requirements for documents physically executed within the state. Virginia has argued that their authority to notarize exists outside their own state and must be accepted with full faith and credit by other states. It still does not adequately define what appearance is and if a virtual appearance on line is the same as a physical appearance required by state statutes of the state of the signing. We are getting into the area of "alternative facts" and the risk of documents failing because of inadequate notarization has not been eliminated. it destroys the safeguards built into the traditional notarial act and remains in my mind something less than a complete notarial act. |
