New North Carolina Take Effect in July
North Carolina passed two bills addressing notaries that started on July 1st, 2024. A large part of them address the temporary rules passed during COVID, making them permanent. Or making small changes that will now be permanent.
Several of the pieces of the law actually kicked in a few months ago, but we will not address that.
*We would like to remind you we are not attorneys. If you need to understand the minutiae, please talk to a lawyer. *
Modifications to the Notary Public Act
The first bill is Senate Bill 552, called the “Modifications to the Notary Public Act”. This bill introduced a slew of minor changes, as well as a couple of new ones.
The biggest one addresses electronic notaries who are not lawyers and who are not located in North Carolina. They are now prohibited from rendering services are advice that can be construed as “the practice of law”.
Many things have been passed to the Secretary of State to implement processes and procedures. For example, the legislature wants on online portal for notaries, which does not exist at this moment.
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A vendor may no longer sell notary stamps to anyone who can not provide a notary commission, as well as personal identification. As for online orders, the Secretary of State is tasked with crafting and instituting new rules.
The law addresses notary change of address, name and resignation. This will most likely be addressed by a website when one is built, but makes some minor changes in the processes to do so.
The bill sets forth maximum amounts allowed by law for a notary to stamp certain documents.
Besides that, among other things, are small changes to definitions and wording of the previous bill.
Adoption Law/ Notary Changes/ Guardianship Rights
As the name implies, this bill is not just about notaries.
The biggest change here is that electronic notaries must use an electronic journal.
Most of the bill addresses adoption and guardianship, so the bulk of the changes are there. There is only a small part that addresses notaries.
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