06/08/2023
FYI for all Maine Notary Public
Effective July 1, 2023, the new Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts will become effective bringing about some important changes to our laws, which we will be communicating to you in the coming months.
The new law creates a new office of “marriage officiant” for purposes of solemnizing marriages in Maine. All Maine notaries public who are Maine residents are automatically eligible to receive a marriage officiant license free of charge unless you wish to decline the license as marriage officiant. You must have a marriage officiant license to solemnize marriages effective July 1, as notaries public will no longer have the authority to solemnize a marriage in the capacity as notary public.
Once a marriage officiant license has been issued, the name, residence address and contact information will be posted on the Secretary of State’s publicly accessible web site in the same manner as your notary public commission contact information appears currently. This contact information provides the means for the public to do a search on our webpage to find a marriage officiant.
If you do not wish to be issued a marriage officiant license, you must go online to the Total Notary Solution – Online Renewal & Profile Update Service, to opt out of being issued the marriage officiant license, on or before June 23, 2023. Additionally, to communicate easily and efficiently with you, we need all notaries to use this service to review and update their commission information. We want to ensure that all notaries are receiving the important emails we will be sending regarding the law and rule changes, so please be sure to visit this online service even if you do not wish to opt out of being issued the marriage officiant license to make sure we have your current contact information and email address.
The Total Notary Solution – Online Renewal & Profile Update Service can be found by going to: www.maine.gov/sos/cec and on the right side of the page, under Online Services, click on Total Notary Solution - Online Renewal & Profile Update Service. Once on the Total Notary Solution page, on the right side of the page, you will log in to your commission account using your first name, last name, date of birth and commission expiration date. Please review and update your commission information on file with our office, and if you wish to opt out of being issued the marriage officiant license, you must select the opt out button. Once you have updated your information, click continue at the bottom of the page to complete the update. You will receive a confirmation page of the changes as well as an email from [email protected] confirming those changes. Please be sure to add both this email address and [email protected] to your non-spam list so that you will be sure to receive and see our emails, especially in the coming months as new information is emailed to you.
Another vital change as a result of adopting this new law is the ability for notarial officers to perform remote and electronic notarizations after July 1, 2023. However, before a notarial officer can perform a remote or an electronic notarization, they must first submit a written notice to the Secretary of State’s office using the form that will be available on the Secretary of State’s website on July 1, 2023. Important: The notarial officer must receive acceptance by the Secretary of State before performing their first remote or electronic notarization. There are many requirements, such as providing the name of the approved technology provider that the notary will be using to perform these remote and electronic transactions.
In addition to the emails that will be sent communicating with you, we will be adding important information to our notary webpages (www.maine.gov/sos/cec/notary/notaries.html), so please be sure to visit these pages frequently for vital information regarding all the notary changes.
Thank you for your attention to these important notary public matters and thank you for your public service as a Maine Notary Public. If you have any questions regarding this information, please send an email to [email protected].
The Secretary of State is now accepting public comments on administrative rules proposed for (700: Rules Governing Notaries Public, Notarial Acts and the Procedures for Electronic and Remote Notarization). A public hearing has been scheduled for June 8, 2023, at the Burton Cross Building, 111 Sewa...
