Remote signatures and online notaries in Florida
Florida was among the earlier states to adopt a Remote Online Notarization (RON) law, letting a commissioned Florida online notary public notarize a document remotely over live audio-video, instead of requiring the signer to appear in person. It's one of the most commonly confused topics in electronic signing, because "notarization" and "electronic signature" sound related but are legally distinct acts with different requirements. This article explains how Florida's RON framework works, how it's different from signing a document electronically on a platform like Esignapi, and — importantly — which of your documents actually need a notary at all, since most don't.
Electronic signature and notarization are two different things
An ordinary electronic signature — signing a contract, a lease, an onboarding form — is governed by the federal ESIGN Act and Florida's own Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA), covered in Are electronic signatures legal in Florida?. Those laws establish that the signature itself is legally valid and enforceable. Notarization is a separate legal act: a commissioned notary public verifies the signer's identity and witnesses the signing, then attaches their own notarial certificate and seal. Plenty of documents are signed electronically with no notary involved at all, because they don't require one — notarization is the exception, not the default, for most contracts.
Florida's Remote Online Notarization (RON) law
Florida's RON framework, under Florida Statutes Chapter 117, allows a notary who has been specifically commissioned as an "online notary public" to notarize a document for a signer who isn't physically in the same room, using live, two-way audio-video communication and identity verification methods required by the statute (such as credential analysis and knowledge-based identity questions). This is a formal legal process with specific requirements: the notary must be commissioned for remote work specifically (an ordinary in-person Florida notary commission isn't automatically sufficient), the platform used has to meet the technology standards the statute requires, and the resulting electronic record and certificate have their own retention rules.
This is meaningfully different from an ordinary e-signature platform. An e-signature service like Esignapi lets parties sign contracts and other documents electronically with a recorded audit trail — it is not an online notary platform, and it does not perform notarization. If a document you're working with genuinely requires notarization, that step needs to go through a Florida-commissioned online notary public using RON-compliant technology, separately from how the rest of your paperwork is signed.
Which documents actually need a notary in Florida
Most everyday business and personal contracts don't require notarization at all — they're valid once signed, under ESIGN and Florida's UETA, with no notary involved. Florida law requires notarization (or similar formalities) for a narrower set of documents, which commonly includes things like certain real estate instruments recorded with the county, specific estate planning documents, and some sworn statements or affidavits. The general pattern of documents that need something beyond a standard signature — not just in Florida but across US states — is covered in Documents you can't sign electronically. Because the specific list and the exact formality required (notarization versus a witness versus something else) depends on the document type and sometimes the county, confirm the requirement for your specific document rather than assuming either that notarization is required or that it isn't.
A common example: real estate closings
Florida real estate transactions are a frequent source of confusion here. The purchase and sale agreement itself is typically an ordinary contract, signed electronically like any other under ESIGN and Florida's UETA — see E-signatures for Miami rental and real estate contracts for how that plays out for leases and purchase agreements. Certain documents connected to the actual closing — most commonly a deed that will be recorded with the county clerk — can carry notarization requirements that exist independently of the signature method, under Florida's recording statutes. For those specific documents, a RON-compliant notarization is one way to satisfy that requirement remotely; the rest of the transaction's paperwork generally doesn't need it.
What to check before assuming either way
Three questions are worth answering for any Florida document you're unsure about: does the specific type of document (not the general category of "contract") have a notarization or witness requirement under Florida law; if it does, is a remote online notarization through a Florida-commissioned online notary acceptable for your purpose, or does it specifically require in-person notarization; and separately from either of those, does the document also need to be recorded with a county office, which can carry its own formatting and certification requirements beyond notarization itself. None of these questions are answered by an e-signature platform's own terms — they depend on the specific Florida statute governing that document type, and for anything with real legal or financial consequences riding on it, it's worth confirming directly with the relevant county office or a professional familiar with that specific document type.
Even when a specific document in a transaction needs notarization, the rest of the paperwork around it usually doesn't. A real estate transaction, for example, typically generates disclosures, addenda, and the main purchase agreement that are ordinary contracts, alongside a smaller number of documents (like a deed) that need to go through notarization or recording separately. Keeping the ordinary contracts moving through standard e-signature workflows — with a recorded audit trail and a completion certificate — while routing only the documents that actually require it through a RON-compliant notary keeps the rest of a transaction from being slowed down by a requirement that doesn't apply to most of it. See What an e-signature audit trail contains for how that record-keeping works for the documents that don't need a notary.
Getting started
For most Florida businesses and individuals, the documents you sign day to day — contracts, leases, onboarding forms, vendor agreements — don't need notarization at all, and are already covered by the ESIGN Act and Florida's UETA once signed electronically. The cases that do need a notary are narrower than they might seem, and Florida's RON law gives you a remote path for those specific documents through a commissioned online notary, separate from your everyday e-signature workflow. See how Esignapi works for signing the documents that don't require notarization.
Frequently asked questions
Can Esignapi notarize a document?
No. Esignapi is an electronic signature platform, not an online notary service. If a document genuinely requires notarization, that step needs to go through a Florida-commissioned online notary public using Remote Online Notarization (RON) technology that meets Florida's statutory requirements, separately from signing the rest of your documents.
Do I need a notary for a standard business contract in Florida?
Generally no. Most standard business contracts — service agreements, vendor contracts, employment paperwork — don't require notarization under Florida law and are valid once signed electronically under the ESIGN Act and Florida's UETA.
What makes a Florida notary an "online notary public"?
An online notary public is a Florida notary who has been specifically commissioned under the state's Remote Online Notarization statute to perform notarizations remotely using live audio-video and identity verification methods the statute requires — it's a separate commission from an ordinary in-person Florida notary public commission.
Can a document notarized through RON in Florida be used outside Florida?
Generally, a notarization performed correctly under Florida's RON law is treated as a valid Florida notarization, but whether another state or institution accepts a remotely notarized document can depend on that state's own laws or that institution's own policies — confirm with the receiving party or jurisdiction if the document is going somewhere outside Florida.
How do I know if my specific document needs notarization?
Check the Florida statute that governs that specific document type (not just "is this a contract" in general), since notarization requirements attach to specific document categories — certain real estate instruments, specific estate planning documents, some sworn statements — rather than to contracts as a whole. When in doubt for a document with significant legal or financial consequences, confirm with the county office involved or a professional familiar with that document type.