The pandemic has shown us that doing business in the traditional face-to-face sense is becoming a thing of the past. Gone are the days where you must drive into town to attend a meeting because you can join a Zoom call instead. Signing paper documents at the bank is being replaced by using your finger to sign on a tablet instead, and PDF copies are immediately sent to you via email. In that same vein, North Dakotans have new, convenient options for accomplishing routine legal matters and I will describe three of those: online remote notarization, electronic Wills, and the online health care directive registry.

Remote Online Notarization

In the 2019 session, the North Dakota Legislature approved remote online notarization of documents (called RON for short). This means a notary does not have to be in the same place as the person signing the document. For example, the notary could be sitting in her office downtown and notarize a document for someone on the other side of the country, or for someone across town in the nursing home. The RON rules require the interaction between the notary and the signer to be videoed and saved for a certain period. In the estate planning world, RON allows nursing home and assisted living residents under lockdown access to a notary at any time as long as they have access to a smartphone, tablet or computer. It also removes roadblocks for people who live in rural areas or who are too busy to stop by the attorney’s office to have documents signed. Minot serves as a regional hub for legal and financial services for many people, and saving a trip into town from Harvey, Kenmare or Bowbells is a great new convenience that RON provides.

RON also allows real estate closings to occur without a trip to the bank or title company in search of a notary. The North Dakota Secretary of State keeps a registry of notaries in the state who provide RON. In addition to RON, electronic notary services add another layer of convenience as it allows the notary to use an electronic seal to notarize the document instead of the traditional notary ink stamp. While there are a few limitations to both the RON and electronic notary services, they are likely to be smoothed over or eliminated as time goes on as these services become the new normal.

Electronic Wills

In the 2021 session, the North Dakota Legislature approved the use of electronic Wills. Electronic Wills are documents that are created, signed and stored electronically, not in paper format. Electronic Wills must be readable text and cannot be oral or video Wills. Similar to regular paper Wills, electronic Wills must either be witnessed by two people or notarized (RON is often used). The North Dakota law does not specifically require witnesses to be physically present, making it possible to have remote witnesses. Under current law, electronic Wills do have to “cross over” to the paper world to be certified as a true copy so it can be printed and filed with a court for the probate process after someone passes away.

To be clear, an electronic Will is not simply a scanned copy of a regular paper Will, but it is instead an electronic document that contains an electronic signature. It is unclear at this time whether electronic Wills will eventually become the “new normal,” or if they will remain a tool to be used only in extreme circumstances, such as someone who is confined to a nursing home or who prefers keeping only electronic records.

Online Health Care Directive Registry

The North Dakota Health Care Directive Registry is now up and running. This secure database allows North Dakota citizens to upload their Health Care Directive so it can be accessed by their health care providers and other authorized users at any time. A Health Care Directive states who has legal authority to make medical decisions for you if you cannot and may contain your specific wishes for end-of-life care. After you upload your directive, you will receive a wallet card with an access ID and PIN to access the document in the online registry. This is handy if you are in a car accident as first responders routinely check wallets, so keep the card behind your driver’s license so it is easy to find. Likewise, if you need to receive medical care while you are in Arizona for the winter you can have your doctor pull up your directive online instead of trying to remember to pack the paper copy. The law allows citizens, medical providers and attorneys representing clients to upload documents. Private companies, such as DocuBank, have provided similar services for years for an annual fee, and it is encouraging to know the state of North Dakota provides a similar service free of charge to its citizens. The link to register is: www.nd/gov/hdir/login.