Notarization Terms of Service

These Notarization Terms of Service govern the redrafting of agreements submitted through the Zen Subscription document review benefit. They incorporate Origami Legal’s General Terms of Service. Different terms apply to general contract and document drafting services Origami Legal offers or performs.

Remote Notarization – Additional Fees Required

Remote and electronic notarization are provided subject to the requirements set out by Michigan law. This means that remote and electronic notarization must be completed through a software vendor’s platform. The software platform that facilitates remote and electronic notarization charges Origami Legal a transactional fee per notarization. As a result, Origami Legal must charge a fee to recoup these costs. The amount Origami Legal charges is designed to approximately recoup those transactional costs – this is not a money-making service for us, and if we could do it free of charge for subscribers, we would. Fees per remote or electronic notarization range from $10-$70, depending on the number of signatures and notarization required.

Availability

Only a licensed notary may perform notarial services, and only when physically in the state of Michigan. As a result, there may be service blackout dates if our notary is out of the state or country. We will make those dates clear as far in advance as possible, but we cannot guarantee a notary’s availability for any particular time period. If you expect to use the Zen Notarization benefit in the near future, we highly recommend checking with us to see whether a notary will be available.

Services Not Available to the General Public

Origami Legal does not offer notarization services to the general public, either free or as a paid service. Our notarization services are only available to Zen Subscribers.

Limitations

Volume Limitations

Notarization is available on a reasonable basis, meaning it is not a high volume service. For instance, a title company attempting to use a Zen Subscription for unlimited closing notarizations would be inappropriate. If you anticipate having this type of high volume need, please contact Origami Legal to discuss your needs further.

Legal Limitations

Michigan notaries can only notarize documents if there is a reasonable basis to believe the signer is who they say. This will require identifying documents for in-person notarization, and a knowledge based identification test for remote notarization. In either case, the identifying documentation requirement may be waived if the notary knows you personally.

Please note that remote notarization generally requires a social security number, so it may not be suitable for non-citizens who do not know our notary personally.

Finally, notarization is prohibited if the notary has any doubt about the signer’s competence. If we have reason to believe that a signer is not competent to sign the documents at issue, the notarization cannot be completed.

Refunds

Refunds on remote notarization are not available after the documents have been prepared for notarization. They are refundable prior to that point.

Not Legal Services

Notarization is not a legal service and is subject to a different set of legal and ethical rules than legal services offered by Origami Legal.

Effective Date

Effective on 10/19/2021.