Parson order waives some in-person notary requirements

Gov. Mike Parson has signed an executive order suspending personal appearance requirements for certain acts as part of an effort to support remote notary services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sept. 3, Parson signed Executive Order 20-14, which suspends provisions in state law requiring the physical presence of a notary or any other person to execute estate-planning documents and self-proving affidavits, so long as certain conditions are met. The order expires on December 30.

“It is important that we continue to remove barriers and keep Missourians moving forward during this time,” Parson said in a statement.

“This Executive Order will help ensure that Missourians can still safely sign estate-planning documents such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney and self-proving affidavits without placing themselves, their notary or any other individuals at risk.”

In July, Parson signed House Bill 1655. The new law, which went into effect Aug. 28, created requirements for electronic notaries and regulates remote online notaries. The law also directed the secretary of state to develop and maintain standards for remote online notarization and approve remote online notarization software.

The executive order supplements the new law.