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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6604
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING RE MOTE NOTARIAL ACTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section, 1
"notary public" means a person commissioned by the Secretary of the 2
State pursuant to section 3-94b of the general statutes or a commissioner 3
of the Superior Court as described in section 51-85 of the general 4
statutes. Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, on and 5
after the effective date of this section until June 30, 2022, any notarial act 6
that is required under Connecticut law to be performed by a notary 7
public may be performed using an electronic device or process that 8
allows a notary public and a remotely located individual to 9
communicate with each other simultaneously by sight and sound, 10
provided the following conditions are met: 11
(1) The individual seeking the notarial act from a notary public, if not 12
personally known to the notary public, shall present satisfactory 13
evidence of identity, as defined in section 3-94a of the general statutes, 14
while connected to the electronic device or process, and may not 15
transmit such evidence prior to or after the transaction; 16
(2) The electronic device or process used by the notary public shall be 17
capable of recording the complete notarial act and such recording shall 18 Substitute Bill No. 6604
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be made and retained by the notary public for not less than ten years; 19
(3) The individual seeking the signatory act shall affirmatively 20
represent using the electronic device or process that he or she is 21
physically situated in this state; 22
(4) The individual seeking the signatory act shall transmit by fax or 23
electronic means a legible copy of the signed document directly to the 24
notary public on the same date it was executed; 25
(5) The notary public may notarize the transmitted copy of the 26
document and transmit such copy to the individual seeking the 27
signatory act by fax or electronic means; and 28
(6) The notary public may repeat the notarization of the original 29
signed document as of the date of execution, provided the notary public 30
receives such original signed document, together with the electronically 31
notarized copy, within thirty days after the date of execution. 32
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) to (6), 33
inclusive, of subsection (a) of this section, only an attorney admitted to 34
practice law in this state and in good standing may remotely administer 35
a self-proving affidavit to a will pursuant to section 45a-285 of the 36
general statutes or conduct a real estate closing as required under 37
section 51-88a of the general statutes. Any witnessing requirement for a 38
will may be satisfied remotely through the use of an electronic device or 39
process if it is completed under the supervision of a commissioner of the 40
Superior Court. The supervising commissioner shall certify that he or 41
she supervised the remote witnessing of the will. 42
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, no witness 43
shall be required for any document requiring a notarial act, other than a 44
will, as set forth in subsection (b) of this section. 45
(d) All remotely notarized documents pertaining to real property 46
shall be accepted for recording on the land records by all town clerks. A 47
one-page certification confirming the use of remote notarization 48 Substitute Bill No. 6604
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procedures shall be attached to each remotely notarized document 49
submitted for recording on the land records in this state. 50
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) The chairpersons of the joint standing 51
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 52
relating to commerce shall convene a working group to examine and 53
make recommendations regarding whether to adopt the Revised 54
Uniform Law on Notarial Acts and whether remote notarial acts should 55
be permitted in connection with real estate and trusts and estates 56
transactions. 57
(b) Appointments to the working group shall include, but need not 58
be limited to, the Secretary of the State, or the Secretary's designee, a 59
representative from the General Assembly who is an attorney having 60
experience in real estate transactions, representatives from the joint 61
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 62
matters relating to commerce, government administration and the 63
judiciary, the Judicial Branch, the office of the Secretary of the State, the 64
Connecticut State Library, the Connecticut Town Clerks Association, the 65
Uniform Law Commission, state or regional bar associations, notary 66
associations and the title insurance industry and the mortgage industry. 67
All appointments to the working group shall be made not later than 68
thirty days after the effective date of this section. 69
(c) The Secretary of the State, or the Secretary's designee, and the 70
representative from the General Assembly who is an attorney having 71
experience in real estate transactions shall be the chairpersons of the 72
working group. The chairpersons of the working group shall schedule 73
the first meeting of the working group, which shall be held not later than 74
sixty days after the effective date of this section. The working group 75
shall meet at least monthly thereafter, until it submits its report 76
pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. 77
(d) Not later than January 1, 2022, the working group shall submit a 78
report on its findings and recommendations pursuant to subsection (a) 79
of this section to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 80 Substitute Bill No. 6604
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having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, government 81
administration and the judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of 82
section 11-4a of the general statutes. The working group shall terminate 83
on the date that it submits such report or on January 1, 2022, whichever 84
is later. 85
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
CE Joint Favorable Subst.