(755 ILCS 6/15-20)

Sec. 15-20. Remote witnessing and notarization during the COVID-19 emergency declaration.

(a) The purpose of this Section is to give statutory approval to the notary and witness guidelines provided in Executive Order 2020-14.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law or rule, effective March 26, 2020 and ending 30 days after the expiration of the Governor's emergency declaration regarding COVID-19, a notarial act or an act of witnessing, including when a person must "appear before", act "in the presence of", or any variation thereof, may be performed through means of 2-way audio-video communication technology that allows for direct contemporaneous interaction by sight and sound between the individual signing the document, the witness, and the notary public.

(c) A notarial act satisfies the "appearing before" requirement under Section 6-102 of the Illinois Notary Public Act if the notary public performs a remote notarization via 2-way audio-video communication technology, if the notary public commissioned in this State is physically within the State while performing the notarial act and the transaction follows any guidance or rules provided by the Secretary of State in existence on the date of notarization.

(d) An act of witnessing and the technology used in the audio-video communication shall substantially comply with the following process:

(1) the 2-way audio-video communication shall be recorded and preserved by the signatory or the signatory's designee for a period of at least 3 years;

(2) the signatory shall attest to being physically located in the State during the 2-way audio-video communication;

(3) the witness shall attest to being physically located in the State during the 2-way audio-video communication;

(4) the signatory shall affirmatively state on the 2-way audio-video communication what document the signatory is signing;

(5) each page of the document being witnessed shall be shown to the witness on the 2-way audio-video communication technology in a means clearly legible to the witness;

(6) the act of signing shall be captured sufficiently up close on the 2-way audio-video communication for the witness to observe;

(7) the signatory shall transmit by overnight mail, fax, electronic, or other means a legible copy of the entire signed document directly to the witness no later than the day after the document is signed;

(8) the witness shall sign the transmitted copy of the document as a witness and transmit the signed copy of the document back via overnight mail, fax, electronic, or other means to the signatory within 24 hours of receipt; and

(9) if necessary, the witness may sign the original signed document as of the date of the original execution by the signatory if the witness receives the original signed document together with the electronically witnessed copy within 30 days from the date of the remote witnessing.

(e) The prohibition on electronic signatures on certain documents in subsection (c) of Section 120 of the Electronic Commerce Security Act remains in full effect.

(f) Notwithstanding any law or rule of this State to the contrary, absent an express prohibition in a document against signing in counterparts, all legal documents, including, but not limited to, deeds, last wills and testaments, trusts, durable powers of attorney for property, and powers of attorney for health care, may be signed in counterparts by the witnesses and the signatory. A notary public shall be presented with a fax or electronic copy of the document signature pages showing the witness signatures on the same date the document is signed by the signatory if the notary public is being asked to certify to the appearance of the witnesses to a document.

(g) Any technology issues that may occur do not impact the validity or effect of any instrument or document signed under this Section. As used in this Section, "technology issues" include, but are not limited to, problems with the Internet connection, user error related to the use of technology, the file containing a recorded act becoming corrupted, or other temporary malfunctions involving the technology used in an act of witnessing or a notarial act.

(Source: P.A. 102-167, eff. 7-26-21.)