AnalysisIn issuing its emergency guidance, the WDFI writes, "Under current law, a person seeking notarization must 'appear[] before' a notary public, (citing Wis. Stat. §§ 137.01(4)(b), 706.07(2)) and certain types of notarized documents must be signed in the 'presence' of witnesses. Those statutes don’t specify whether the appearance must be in person. We 'avoid statutory interpretations that lead to absurd results,' (citing Watton v. Hegerty, 2008 WI 74, ¶ 26, 311 Wis. 2d 52, 751 N.W.2d 359) and it would be absurd to construe those statutes to require in-person appearances in the time of a global pandemic. People’s lives are at stake."
The emergency guidance issued by the WDFI comes in response to Governor Evers' Executive Order #72 in which he directed "all state agencies to assist as appropriate in the State's ongoing response to the public health emergency."
The emergency guidance bumps up the effective date of Act No. 125, enacting the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, from May 1 to now. Notaries wanting to perform remote online notarial acts must comply with the steps for doing so issued by the DFI, which include using a listed approved remote online notarization platform and undergoing training to perform remote online notarizations.
To read the emergency guidance, click Download PDF, below.