Business

How Should You Prepare To Use Online Notary Service

 

It is likely that you’d have heard and read about online notary service or remote online notarization prior to this wretched year. While this service has been available almost for a decade how, few of us would have used it. After all getting our documents or signatures notarized meant visiting a notary public in person and getting it done at their office. That’s not possible anymore for millions or people or rather not feasible with the fear of Covid-19 infection still looming around. Thankfully you can get it done online ad online notarization has become hugely popular this year and millions of Americans have already benefitted from the service.

Technology though has comes a savior in our lives and saved hundreds of thousands of lives in a year that has seen our health system stretched to its limits. While it would be difficult to numerically quantify the number of lives that has been saved by allowing people to work from the comfort of their homes and have students attend classes remotely, it goes without saying that countless lives have been saved. The use of technology powered services has gone up. Starting from the very basics of shopping for groceries to attending funerals and other social events remotely, we have done things this year that would have seemed out of a fantasy movie a year back. Similarly online notarization has been one of the biggest stories this year of technology acting as an enabler and bringing services to our homes.

Majority of the States in the country have legalized online notarization over the last few years and even those that haven’t legalized it formally have created special provisions to authorize them for the benefit of the masses considering public health and safety. Notary publics on their part also have been quick to adapt and today it is possible for you to access these services 24/7 sitting safe in your homes. If you are planning to use these services for the very first time you may have few doubts and apprehensions in mind regarding the process and how you should go about them. Let us take you through the very basics of the things you need to know and how you should prepare to use online notary service

Find a reputable platform
Talk of online notary service and you will come across hundreds of platforms that are offering these services. If you care to do some background research on them you’d come to know that majority of these platforms are a post-Covid phenomenon. It thus calls for separating the wheat from the chaff when you wish to have a hassle-free experience. As a rule work with platforms that have been in this business prior to Covid as they have the best remote public notaries and also know the rules of the game better than anyone else. Like you’d be apprehensive about an online store that started operations few months back, you should also avoid getting your documents notarized by just the first online service provider you come across if they opened shop just few months back. When you find a reputable service provider rest of the process would be smooth and simple.

Signup and Upload Your Document
Once you have found a good online notary service provider it is time for you to sign up for your first online notarization. The process is simple and you will have to fill up a form and provide basic details and contact information. Once your account has been activated you are all set for uploading your document that needs to be notarized. You must clearly read their instructions about uploading your documents and follow them. Typically most service providers require you to upload your document in PDF format. JPEG and other image formats aren’t usually admissible legally and you have to keep that in mind. Use of a scanner is a must in these cases as images captured using mobile phones often don’t capture all the required details with clarity. Do not cut corners in this step as your documents and signature would have to pass verification before the public notary puts their seal of approval.

Attend the Video Call    
Mostonline notary services would schedule a video call once your documents have been successfully verified and here you must attend it with the same professionalism as you’d do for an online interview or an office meeting. These video interactions usually last for few minutes and would be scheduled within minutes of your documents being uploaded and hence you must be prepared for the interaction as and when you are uploading the documents. Make sure you are using a stable network and preferably a wired collection that has sufficient bandwidth to help you get on with the virtual meeting seamlessly. Sit in a well-lit area of your home for this video call to go off smoothly.

Keep Your Documents Ready    
Youmust keep the hard copies of all documents you have uploadedfor identification proof and verification as may be required in some cases. The notary may ask few questions regarding your documents and the need for notarization as they do during physical interaction. The notary would finally notarize your documents and signatures wherein you and the notary would sign the documents electronically. They would then put their electronic seal after which the notarized documents would be sent over to your email or you can print it from their server.

You can clearly see how easy it is to get your documents and signatures notarized remotely without having to worry about their legality or other issues. Going forward we expect to see online notary service gain popularity as more states legalize it in the coming months and years having seen the benefits  they offer people. As we had stated earlier you need to get in touch with a reputable online notary service and not have to step out of your home again to meet a notary public in person.

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