NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — NotaryCam®, the pioneering leader in online notarization and original provider of mortgage eClosing solutions, today announced that it has seen a 10X-increase in the number of remote online notarization (RON) transactions the company has performed for electronic wills (eWills) thus far in 2020. The company attributes a significant portion of this increase to the passage of Florida’s eWill legislation, which went into effect on July 1, 2020.
Since launching its eWill product in 2019, NotaryCam has enabled testators to create and notarize video eWills, advanced health directives, trusts, etc. without having to appear physically in person before a notary. NotaryCam engages two forms of identification and allows witnesses and/or attorneys to join the ceremony from anywhere. To ensure the wishes laid out in the eWill survive probate, NotaryCam added security measures including securely storing video recording the signing ceremony for a minimum of 10 years and tamper-sealing on the notarized document. Witnesses and/or attorneys can also join the ceremony from anywhere in the world.
“In today’s world, eWills not only provide individuals a convenient and secure platform through which to create a will, but also the peace of mind knowing it can be easily accessed at any time from anywhere,” said NotaryCam Founder and CEO Rick Triola. “For example, in a situation in which a living will or advanced care directive needs to be accessed, it provides comfort to the family to not only know their loved one’s wishes, but to see them on video as those wishes were expressed.”
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to create and notarize eWills has become more significant as well as more convenient as states issued emergency orders authorizing RON transactions. Although many states have recognized the legality of eWills for years, RON now allows individuals/testators to remotely execute these documents with or without their attorneys having to appear physically in the same room. Thus, allowing eWills or any estate planning documents to be remotely notarized, eliminates several barriers that might otherwise prevent individuals from engaging in advanced care/estate planning. Additionally, the emergency legislation surrounding RON allows NotaryCam to add security and identity proofing, adding both long-term defensible evidence and peace of mind to eWill transactions.
For Florida-based estate planning firm and NotaryCam client de Jesus Law Group, LLC, the ability to electronically execute wills and other estate planning documents was key to maintaining its operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our previous process involved a lot of manual work with paper and physically mailing documents. Because of COVID, our firm went completely virtual, and we had to find a new way to get our signings done. When we looked into eWills, NotaryCam immediately stood out as the only electronic notary platform that could perform eWill transactions in Florida currently,” said the firm’s co-founder Irene de Jesus. “After our first eWill transaction with NotaryCam, I was already comfortable with the process and immediately saw how this process will save us a lot of time and resources.”
According to de Jesus, one of the added benefits is that NotaryCam also provides witnesses to the transaction, thus eliminating the need for her clients to do so This not only streamlines the transaction by reducing the number of parties involved in scheduling, but it also reduces the overall cost to the testator. For de Jesus, NotaryCam’s streamlined, cost-conscious approach to RON for estate planning made the difference in putting eWills within her firm’s financial reach and has fundamentally changed how her firm plans to handled signings beyond the pandemic.
“We’ve just started to realize the cost savings over our previous process, but I can tell you that based on what we’ve seen so far, I’m not changing how we’re doing this once COVID is done,” she added.”
About NotaryCam
After pioneering the world’s first multi-party/multi-state remote online notarization (RON) in 2012, visionary entrepreneur Rick Triola founded NotaryCam and completed the first mortgage remote online closing (ROC(tm)) in 2014. Today, NotaryCam is the leader in remote online notarization across all Industries and real estate/mortgage eClosing solutions, having notarized documents worldwide for hundreds of thousands of customers in all 50 states and more than 150 countries. The company’s patented eClose360® platform delivers the “perfect” online mortgage closing in every jurisdiction and supports all eClosing scenarios – RON, IPEN or Hybrids – with a flexible workflow for document recording and unparalleled identity verification, security and customer convenience. NotaryCam also proudly maintains an industry-leading 99.8 percent customer satisfaction rating.
Visit https://www.notarycam.com for additional information or to get a document notarized today.
