On May 14, 2020, the Texas Health and Human Services Department of State Health Services issued guidance for signing documents in person: COVID-19: Interim Guidance on Executing Contracts and Other Documents Requiring In-Person Signatures. The May 14 guidance is designated as version 2.0. The document can be found here.
Bill Pargaman’s “A Guide to Executing Estate Planning Documents in Uncertain Times” has been updated to reflect the issuance of this guidance. Please check for the latest version of Mr. Pargaman’s guide at https://www.snpalaw.com/resources.
Update: Remote notarization of real estate transaction documents.
On April 27, 2020, Governor Abbott issued a temporary order allowing remote notarization for certain real-estate instruments via videoconferencing. The press release announcing the order is here. Notarizations made pursuant to the temporary order must meet specific requirements, which can be found here.
Bill Pargaman’s “A Guide to Executing Estate Planning Documents in Uncertain Times” (linked above) has been updated to reflect the issuance of the temporary order.
Bill Pargaman is partner at Saunders Norval Pargaman & Atkins in Austin, TX. He also is a Past Chair of both the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and the Section’s Estate and Legislative Affairs Committee.