How to have Legal Documents Notarized Online during the Pandemic

Is this available for all types of legal documents?

No. This will be limited to those paper documents and instruments with handwritten signature or marks. Notarial wills are not allowed.

How can you have legal documents notarized online?

Here are the simple steps you should follow:

1. The parties shall get in touch with a Notary Public and make arrangements for the remote notarization. The parties and witnesses should be in the same city or territorial jurisdiction.
2. The parties and witnesses to the legal document should sign and execute the instrument or document requiring acknowledgment, oath, or affirmation. The parties should record a short video clip clearly showing the instrument or document and the act of signing by the parties.
3. The parties shall then deliver the instrument or document in a sealed envelope with the initials of the parties to the office of the notary public by courier service, like LBC, FedEx, or DHL, along with the following:

• 2 copies of any government issued ID

• If the signatory is a representative of one or more parties:
  • 2 certified copies of the document granting his or her authority to sign in such capacity
  • 2 copies of any government issued ID of the party granting such authority
• If the party granting the principal’s authority is a corporation:
  • 2 copies of any government issued ID of the corporate secretary
  • 2 copies of Secretary Certificate or Board Resolution
• For witnesses:
  • 2 copies of the competent evidence of identity

4. The video clip may be sent to the Notary Public by e-mail or other electronic means, or by saving a copy of the video clip in a CD or USB drive and enclosing it along with the other materials to be sent to the office of the Notary Public.
5. If the parties choose to deliver the envelope through courier service (e.g. Grab, Angkas, LalaMove etc.), the parties shall be required to send to the Notary Public the details necessary to track its delivery once these details become available.

What to expect once the Notary Public has already received the legal document or instrument?

1. Upon receipt of the sealed envelope and the video clip, the notary public will schedule a videoconference.
2. At the appointed time for the Videoconference, the notary public will require the parties and witnesses to confirm their identities and location to the satisfaction of the notary public by showing their geolocation through an application with global positioning satellite (GPS) capabilities or by showing the notary public identifiable landmarks or buildings within the vicinity.
3. The parties and witnesses will then confirm that the instrument or document exhibited to them is the very same instrument or document, which the parties caused to be delivered to the notary public.
4. The parties and witnesses shall be asked to sign on a blank piece of paper within full view of the notary public for comparison with the signature appearing on the instrument or document.
5. The parties and witnesses will then be asked to confirm that the signature appearing at the end of the instrument or document belongs to them and that it was voluntarily affixed for the purposes stated therein.
6. The parties will then be asked to declare that they have executed the instrument or document as their voluntary act and deed, and if acting in a particular representative capacity, that they have authority to sign in that capacity.
7. The notary public will then complete the notarial certificate by affixing his or her signature thereon by hand, and set his or her official seal.

What to expect after notarization?

• After the notarization has been performed and the corresponding notarial and courier service fees and expenses paid, the principal shall cause the retrieval of the notarized documents from the notary public either personally or by courier service.
• The principal shall shoulder all expenses in connection with the remote notarization, including the expenses for the reproduction of the instrument or document and delivery thereof either by personal or courier service.