Letter from BASF's Estate Planning, Probate and Trusts Section to Governor Newsom Regarding Notarization during the Public Health Emergency
April 10, 2020, San Francisco—The Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco sent a letter to Governor Newsom asking for a temporary emergency modification of the statutes governing notarization.
Trusts and Estate practitioners have been inundated because much of their work involves planning for times of ill health and responding to emergency. However, this area of law requires notarized signatures and/or the attestation of independent witnesses.
An emergency order temporarily allowing the personal appearance requirement for notarial acts to be met through the use of audio/video technology, with the notary and signer in different physical and/or geographical locations, would allow practitioners to serve Californians while upholding the shelter-in-place order and protecting public health.
The Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) is a nonprofit voluntary membership organization of attorneys, law students, and legal professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in 1872, BASF enjoys the support of more than 7,500 individuals, law firms, corporate legal departments, and law schools. Through its board of directors, its committees, and its volunteer legal services programs and other community efforts, BASF has worked actively to promote and achieve equal justice for all and oppose discrimination in all its forms, including, but not limited to, discrimination based on race, sex, disability, and sexual orientation. BASF provides a collective voice for public advocacy, advances professional growth and education, and attempts to elevate the standards of integrity, honor, and respect in the practice of law.