Effective June 20, 2022 video and audio conferenced electronic notarizations will be legal in New York State, but why make us wait until June 20, 2022? 

The law, S1780C, was signed by the Governor on December 22, 2022, but provides its effective date is 180 after signing. So, we have to wait roughly 6 months for new Executive Law 137-a to be effective. Further, not all electronic notarizations are going to be valid with cumbersome rules being set forth in the statute and even more rules to come by the Secretary of State in the form of regulations authorized in the statute. 

The law creates a new type of notary, an Electronic Notary Public or Electronic Notary, who has registered with the Secretary of State such notary's capability of performing electronic notarial acts. Plus, the law requires this notary to "keep a copy of the recording of the video and audio conference and a notation of the type of any other identification used... for a period of at least ten years." Interestingly, electronic notarizations require the electronic notary public to be in New York State when performing the service, but the signer's location is irrelevant. 

While it seems that this law will greatly impact the ability to have wills, mortgages, and citizenship forms signed, on its face, it provides an unnecessarily complicated framework given that we've been doing simple electronic notarizations during the pandemic to much success.