Overview
Understand what a witness is and how to choose one when completing transactions on the Proof platform.
🎯Primary Audience: Signers
Witness Explanation
A witness is an additional person who is not a party to the transaction and is present to witness the signing of the specific document.
As the signer, you may be obligated to have your transaction witnessed. Whether or not a witness is required depends on:
- Requirements set forth in your document(s).
- Guidelines of the state in which your notary is commissioned, if applicable.
- Specifications of the requester (the business that created the transaction), if applicable.
To meet an obligation to provide a witness (or two), you can either:
- In advance, ask a person of your choosing to physically join you in the same room, appear with you during the online notary meeting, and act as your witness
-or- - Select Proof's On-Demand Witness option. (Additional fees apply.) Learn more below and in the On-Demand Witness article.
Select a Witness
Proof does not set witness requirements in the platform as they are generally dictated less by notarial law and more by the documents themselves or their receiver.
However, we recommend you consider the following when choosing your witness:
Will you bring your own witness or use a remote witness?
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Remote witness scenarios:
- Your notary can call a witness to join the meeting remotely using Proof's On-Demand Witness solution:
- Click to jump to this article's Start a Witness Transaction section to learn more!
- You can also read On-Demand Witness.
- If you're closing on a property in Florida, a few additional options are available to your notary. Read Florida Property Remote Witness for more information.
- Your notary can call a witness to join the meeting remotely using Proof's On-Demand Witness solution:
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I'll provide my own witness: In advance, ask a person of your choosing to physically join you in the same room, appear with you during the online notary meeting, and act as your witness:
- Don't want to ask anyone to do this? Understood. That's what Proof's On-Demand Witness solution is for!
- Click to jump to this article's Start a Witness Transaction section to learn more!
- You can also read On-Demand Witness.
- If you have someone in mind to witness your transaction, great! Check out the questions below to make sure they're a good fit.
- Don't want to ask anyone to do this? Understood. That's what Proof's On-Demand Witness solution is for!
Are they 18 years of age or older?
- Many documents require witnesses to be 18 years or older.
Are they interested in, or a party to, the transaction?
- Witnesses are generally prohibited from participating in or benefiting from the transaction.
Do they meet your document-specific and/or state requirements?
- Read your documents carefully. If applicable, you may need to check with the business that created the transaction.
Start a Witness Transaction
Click the link in your email to begin the process and follow the on-screen prompts:
- When asked to verify your identity, provide your information, not the witness's information.
Maximum witnesses & signers
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