Journals, records and e-seals
3 comparisons, 5 guides, 3 tools
A remote act leaves records behind it: the journal entry, the session recording, and the electronic seal and digital certificate attached to the document. Each one has its own rule on what it must hold, who may keep it and for how long, and those periods are not the same from one state to the next.
This section compares the e-journals, certificate issuers and seal suppliers a notary buys from. Its tools work out the date a recording may go, print a journal page with your state's columns and check one entry against them.
The retention and journal tools are listed with the rest on the tools for remote notaries; the state-by-state periods are read in the guides.
Fig. 1Comparisons
- Notary digital certificate providers, comparedWho issues X.509 certificates to notaries, how identity is checked before issue, and which platforms accept one you bring.Checked
- Electronic notary journals, comparedStandalone e-journals and platform journals, read against the entry fields states require and whether entries export.Checked
- Electronic notary seal providers, comparedWho supplies an electronic seal, how it pairs with a tamper-evident certificate, and which platforms accept one you bring.Checked
Tools
JournalsNotary journal templatePick your state and print a journal page with the columns its rule asks for.OpenRecordingsRON recording retention date calculatorSession date and state in, the earliest date the recording and journal may go out.OpenJournal checkNotary journal entry checkCheck one journal entry against the fields your state requires for a remote act.Open
Guides
- RON recording retention by stateHow long each state makes you keep the session recording, who may hold it, and what happens when you leave a platform.
- Electronic notary seal requirementsWhat an electronic seal must contain, how it differs from the digital certificate, and how states have you register it.
- Notary journal requirements by stateWhich states require a journal, what an entry for a remote act must hold, and how long it is kept.
- RON session recording requirementsWhat the recording must show, what it must not hold, the backup rule, and who may get a copy.
- Electronic notary certificate wordingThe certificate wording states require for a remote act, read from the states' own forms.
Other sections
- RON platformsRemote online notarization platforms read against what your state's rule asks of a platform.
- State rules and approved listsEach state's own approved-platform list and the rules a remote notary works under, dated.
- Running a remote notary businessCommission to invoice: authorization, bond and E&O, fees and the tools a one-person practice runs on.