The relevant draft law has been initiated by the government. It provides for a form of remote certification of documents via video link, which will make it possible to certify such documents as, for example, the alienation of a share in a limited liability partnership, pledge transactions, powers of attorney, to submit an application for marriage or for divorce, a statement of acceptance of inheritance or waiver of inheritance.
The pursuit of business for both e-residents and non-residents is somewhat difficult at present, since some transactions require notary certification (for example, a transaction for the alienation of shares in a limited liability partnership, certification of powers of attorney, etc.). The new draft law is intended to facilitate the performance of those transactions and operations that require notarization for both e-residents and citizens of Estonia in foreign countries.
The draft law provides for the creation of a new form of remote notary certification, which by means of a video link established between a notary and a client will allow certifying, for instance, transactions for the alienation and pledge of shares of a limited liability partnership and power of attorney, as well as submitting applications for marriage and divorce, statements of acceptance of inheritance or waiver of inheritance.
The draft law allows a notary to explicitly certify digital signatures as well. This will facilitate electronic apostilization of digitally signed documents (for example, diplomas, authorization documents, certificates, letters of verification, notifications, etc.).
The video link with which enables the transaction should allow a notary to identify the participant and establish his/her will. If, for example, there are Internet connection issues at the moment and the videolink is interrupted, or the notary questions the identity of a person who came to effect the transaction, he/she can stop the operation.
When remote certification operations are performed in a foreign representative office, the participant identification procedure shall be carried out. The notary fee in case of remote certification is 20 Euros higher than usual, and if the action is performed in a foreign representative office, the official fee of 20 Euros shall be charged. The official fee for a transaction carried out in the form of remote notary certification will be 30 Euros.
The law will go into effect on February 1, 2020, since all the IT solutions necessary for the implementation of changes will be available by that time.