Colorado Adopts Notarial Acts Provisions
Colorado has enacted several new provisions regarding its Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. These provisions are effective as of August 9, 2017.
Definitions
Section 24-21-502 is a definitions section which defines several notarial terms including “acknowledgment,” “electronic signature,” “notarial act,” and “verification by oath or affirmation.” The definitions reflect Colorado’s adoption of electronic notarial acts.
Authority to Perform Notarial Acts
Section 24-24-504 describes the persons having authority to perform notarial acts and to which circumstances the authority extends. A notarial officer may not perform a notarial act on a record in which he or she has a disqualifying interest. A disqualifying interest arises in two cases:
- the notarial officer’s spouse, civil union partner, ancestor, sibling, or descendent is a party named in the record
- the officer, his or her spouse, or his or her civil union partner may directly receive any advantage including money, right, or title as a result of the officer’s notarial act.
Any notarial act performed by an officer with a disqualifying interest is voidable.
Requirements for Certain Notarial Acts
Section 24-21-505 requires notarial officers taking acknowledgments of a record to determine, either through personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the acknowledging individual, that the acknowledging individual has the identity claimed. The officer must also determine that the signature on the record is the signature of the individual.
The same requirement applies in cases of a notarial officer taking verifications of statement from an individual and in cases of an officer witnessing or attesting to signatures.
Notarial officers who certify a copy of a record or other copied item must determine that the copy is full, true, and accurate transcription or copy of the record.
Identification of Individuals
Section 24-21-506 states that persons are required to appear personally before a notarial officer if the notarial act relates to a statement made in or a signature made on a record.
Section 24-21-507 lists the acceptable forms of identification that can be relied upon by an officer as satisfactory evidence of an individual’s identity. These include a passport, driver’s license, or any government-issued identification card that is current or not expired by more than one year before the performance of the notarial act.
Other Provisions
Several other provisions have been enacted, including sections addressing the performance of notarial acts both within the state of Colorado and in foreign jurisdictions, signature requirements in cases of persons unable to sign, and an officer’s authority to refuse to perform notarial acts.
For the full text of Senate Bill 132 please refer to http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017A/bills/2017A_132_enr.pdf
Elizabeth Dailey, JD, is a Regulatory Compliance Director with CLA. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and earned her juris doctor at New England Law. She is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
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