Remote online notarization (RON)

A notarization is a check performed by a public official — the notary — that the person signing a document is who they say they are, and that they signed knowingly and willingly. Notaries are commissioned by individual states, and each state decides how its notaries may perform that check.

For most of the history of the office, the only permitted way was in person: the signer stood in front of the notary, showed an ID, and signed paper in ink. Remote online notarization (RON) keeps the same legal act but changes three things about how it is performed:

• Presence is by audio-video. The signer “personally appears” before the notary through a live, two-way audio-video connection. The laws that authorize RON define that connection as satisfying the personal-appearance requirement.
• Identity is verified electronically. Instead of the notary glancing at a card, the ID is analyzed by software and the signer usually passes an independent identity-proofing step.
• The document is electronic. It is signed electronically, and the notary’s signature and seal are applied with a digital certificate that makes later tampering evident.

The terms online notarization, remote notarization, webcam notarization and e-notarization are often used loosely for the same thing. Strictly, electronic notarization is the broader category (any notarization of an electronic document, including one performed in person), and remote notarization can also refer to remote ink notarization, which is a different procedure. Those distinctions are laid out in the comparison below. For a shorter, plain-English version of this page, see what an online notary is and how it works.

RON is an American legal construct. It exists because U.S. states authorize it by statute, and the rules — who may perform it, how signers are identified, how long recordings are kept — are set state by state. The notary’s commissioning state governs the act, which is why the map on this page is organized around the notary’s state rather than the signer’s.

Identity is where RON differs most from an in-person notarization, and where most of the regulation sits. State laws generally require two layers, and a third check by the notary on camera.

Credential analysis

The signer captures images of a current government-issued photo ID — typically a driver’s license, state ID or passport. Software examines the images for the security features, layout and data consistency expected for that document type and jurisdiction, and confirms that the ID is unexpired. The notary then compares the photo with the signer on the live video.

Identity proofing and knowledge-based authentication

Most states also require identity proofing: a check that the person holding the ID is its rightful owner. The dominant method is knowledge-based authentication (KBA) — multiple-choice questions generated from public records and credit-header data, such as previous addresses, vehicles or lenders — answered against a time limit, with a minimum passing score and a limited number of attempts set by state rule. Other states’ laws require “two types of identity proofing” without naming KBA, leaving the method to rule or to the platform.

KBA has a known weakness: it depends on U.S. record history. Signers who are new to the country, live abroad, or have thin files can fail it through no fault of their own. For that reason a number of states now permit alternatives — biometric verification, identity assurance frameworks such as NIST SP 800-63, or identification by a credible witness who knows the signer — and the list is growing. Each state’s entry on the map shows its current requirement.

The notary’s own judgment

Technology does not replace the notary. On the call, the notary must still be satisfied that the signer is the person identified, appears to understand the document, and is acting willingly. A notary can and should refuse to proceed if a signer appears coached, impaired or under pressure — the same duty that applies at a desk.

Three locations matter in a remote notarization, and people often confuse them:

1. Where the notary is commissioned. This state’s law governs the act: its identity rules, its certificate wording, its record-keeping.
2. Where the notary is physically located. Most RON statutes require the notary to be physically inside the commissioning state during the session.
3. Where the signer is. Usually unrestricted. A signer in one state can appear before a notary commissioned in another, and many statutes — following the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts — also permit signers outside the United States, subject to conditions such as the document relating to U.S. property, a U.S. court or government matter, or a transaction substantially connected with the United States.

Once performed, the notarization is recognized in other states through their own statutes on notarial acts performed under another state’s law. That is what makes RON usable everywhere, including in states that have not authorized their own notaries to perform it.

The practical caveat is acceptance, not validity. A notarization can be entirely valid and still be declined by a particular county recorder, court clerk, bank or foreign authority with its own rules about electronic documents. When a document is headed somewhere specific — a deed to a recorder, a filing to a court, a power of attorney to a bank — confirm that the recipient accepts remotely notarized documents before the session.

RON statutes generally apply to the same notarial acts as in-person notarization — acknowledgments, jurats (sworn statements and affidavits), oaths and affirmations, and signature witnessings — and so to the documents that use them: powers of attorney, affidavits, deeds and mortgages, vehicle and title paperwork, business and financial forms, school and travel consents, and many more.

Explicit exclusions written into the RON statutes themselves are rare. Of the 51 jurisdictions we track, the ones that exclude specific document types are: Colorado (wills, codicils and trusts); Connecticut (real property deeds); Georgia (real property deeds, vehicle title transfers); Louisiana (wills, codicils and trusts, marital property agreements); Maryland (wills, codicils and trusts); Massachusetts (wills, codicils and trusts); Nebraska (wills, codicils and trusts); New Jersey (wills, codicils and trusts); North Carolina (wills, codicils and trusts); Wisconsin (wills, codicils and trusts, powers of attorney, marital property agreements, health-care directives).

More often, a limit comes from the document or the recipient rather than from the notarization:

• Wills and estate-planning documents carry their own execution formalities, such as attesting witnesses, and states differ on whether those can be satisfied remotely or electronically. A self-proving affidavit, a will and a trust may each be treated differently.
• Court filings follow court rules; some courts accept electronically notarized affidavits, others require originals.
• Recorded documents depend on the county recorder. 78% of U.S. recording jurisdictions accept electronic recording, covering 95% of the population; elsewhere, a notary’s certified paper copy of the electronic record is commonly used. E-recording by county
• Some forms are not notarizations at all. Employment Form I-9, for example, is completed by an employer’s authorized representative, not a notary.

To check a specific document against a specific state, use the RON validity checker.

There are two parts to the price. The first is the notarial fee, which many states cap by statute for each remote notarial act — $25 in Florida and New York, for example, and $30 plus a technology fee of up to $10 in Ohio. The second is the platform’s charge for the technology, identity verification and storage, which is not always capped and is where prices diverge.

When comparing services, look for what is included: the number of notarial seals, additional signers, witnesses, identity-verification retries, and access to the completed document and recording. A low headline price can double once a second signer or witness is added.

For reference, Notaron’s standard consumer session is $25, with every add-on listed on its pricing page, and our comparison pages set out competitors’ published prices with the date each was checked.