Hoosier Handbook Breakdown: Indiana Trivia - Test Your Knowledge Tuesday

Get ready to test your wits with a fun look at the Hoosier State! In this episode, Eddie Montes Travis and Marylyn Lee Trotter walk you through the essential facts every professional needs to know about Indiana regulations and history. This session focuses on the cultural and legal details found within the state handbook to ensure you are fully prepared for local assignments.

• Indiana Geography: Understanding the layout of the Midwest hub and how its regional borders impact service areas.
• State Symbols: A fun review of the official symbols that define the Hoosier identity and common local knowledge.
• Handbook Regulations: Breaking down the specific guidelines that govern daily professional operations within the state of Indiana.
• Trivia Challenge: Testing your memory on key dates and historical figures that shaped the local legal landscape.

This session is all about keeping your skills sharp while having a bit of fun with local facts. Make sure you stay until the end to see how many answers you get right. Please remember to subscribe and like the podcast to stay updated on all our latest episodes!

Show Notes:
• Key highlights from the Indiana State Handbook.
• Fun trivia facts about Hoosier history and geography.
• Professional standards for operators in the state of Indiana.
• Interactive knowledge check for listeners.

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Notary Operational Excellence: Mastering Certificates, Journals, Ink, and Copy Certification on Amazon

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Executive Producer Derrick Spruill
Writers Marylyn Lee Trotter and Eddie Montes Travis
Graphics & Illustrations by Eddie Montes Travis
Music by Thomas Bynum
This Show is Produced by Magnificent Workz
Business Solutions

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Fraud is a constant threat to your notary commission. You need a shield. The book by Derek Spruil, Notary Fraud Shield, could provide you with some advice, learn real-world tactics, notice red flags, and develop refusal strategies to protect your notary commission. By your copy of Notary Fraud Shield by Derek Spruil from any online bookstore, Amazon.com, Barnes Noble Bookstore, Bookofmillion.com, Bookshop.org, Mobile Notary by DereksPruell.com, or download from Kindle to obtain your essential notary book to help with all your notarization starting today.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Welcome back to Notary Knowledge, everybody. We are so glad you are tuning in today. You know, if you picture a notary public right now, you probably uh just imagine a human rubber stamp.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Right. Yeah, just sitting at a desk.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Exactly. You sit across a desk at a bank or like maybe real estate office, you sign a thick stack of paperwork, and someone just hits the page with a little ink pad. It feels like a desk accessory, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

It really does.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Just a minor bureaucratic hurdle you have to clear before you can, you know, finally get the keys to your new house.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Aaron Powell And I mean, it is so easy to dismiss that ink stamp as just some leftover relic from the 19th century. We live in this era of digital signatures and, you know, biometric logins. So a physical stamp on a piece of paper just feels kind of quaint.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Aaron Powell, but the reality of that stamp is, well, it's anything but quaint. Today we're doing a full breakdown of the source material, specifically looking at the laws governing Indiana notaries.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

The Who's Your State?

SPEAKER_03 1:41

Yeah, pulling straight from Title 33, Article 42 of the Indiana Code, some recent updates from the Secretary of State, and even uh local county recording rules. And the picture that emerges here is entirely different from that desk accessory idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Oh, completely.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

A notary isn't a rubber stamp. They are literally the state's frontline defense. Like a highly regulated bonded gatekeeper standing between our everyday legal agreements and just absolute chaos.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Yeah, the integrity of the entire legal and financial system relies heavily on that one single individual verifying identity and willingness. I mean, if you can't trust the signature on a property deed or a last will intestine or some massive corporate contract, the whole foundational system of legal trust just breaks down.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Aaron Powell Which is exactly why this matters to you. Listening right now. We know a lot of you out there are experienced high-level professionals. You already know the basics.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Right. You're in the trenches.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

Exactly. But maybe you frequently need documents authenticated for your business, or you're just wildly curious about these invisible safeguards that hold our society together. Understanding these specific Indiana rules is crucial because a single, seemingly minor misstep can invalidate a multi-million dollar transaction.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Oh, yeah, or open you up to massive personal liability.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Right. So let's just get into it. And to understand the sheer weight of a notary's signature, we really have to look at the gauntlet required just to obtain that stamp.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Aaron Powell Yeah. And in Indiana, the foundation starts with some pretty strict qualifications. You know, obviously you must be at least 18 years old, a citizen or permanent legal resident of the U.S., and you have to clear an Indiana State Police limited criminal history check. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Which makes sense. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Right. Any convictions involving deceit, dishonesty, or fraud, that will disqualify you immediately.

SPEAKER_03 3:29

Aaron Powell Which is, like I said, completely logical for a fraud deterrent role. But there is this fascinating geographical loophole in these requirements that caught my eye.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Aaron Powell Oh, the residency thing.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Yes. You do not actually have to live in Indiana to be an Indiana notary.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Yeah, it's true. Indiana law allows out-of-state residents to hold a commission, provided they are, quote, primarily employed in the state of Indiana.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Aaron Powell So wait, if you sleep across the border in, say, Illinois or Ohio, but you commute to an office in Indianapolis or Gary, you can absolutely become an Indiana notary.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Aaron Powell You can. The mechanism for this is basically an employer consent form. It's just a formal letter on company Letterhead proving your primary employment is, you know, anchored in the state.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Aaron Powell So the state is essentially saying uh we don't really care where you sleep, we just care where you work.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

But there is a catch to that loophole, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

If you lose that Indiana-based job.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Oh, your commission immediately becomes invalid. It evaporates the exact moment your employment terminates.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

But assuming you keep your job or you are a regular Indiana resident, the term of the commission itself is uniquely long. You know, in many states, a notary commission is good for maybe four years.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Indiana commissions you for a massive eight-year term.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

Aaron Powell Eight years. That is a lifetime in the legal and technological world. I mean, think about how much the internet alone has changed in the last eight years.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Exactly. And because of that, to keep that commission alive, Indiana imposes a strict continuing education requirement. Every two years, you have to pay a $50 fee and take a mandatory state course.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

Okay. That seems standard.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

It is, but this is where the state sets a trap that catches a surprising number of people completely off guard. There is absolute zero tolerance for missing that continuing education deadline.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Wait, zero tolerance? Like if I miss the deadline by a day, I can't just pay a late fee and take the course over the weekend.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Nope. If you miss the deadline by a single second, your commission permanently expires.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

You're kidding.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

I'm not. It doesn't get suspended. It dies. You have to start the entire application process completely over. I'm talking a new background check, a new exam, new application fees, all of it.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

That is brutal. Okay, I want to look closely at the financial requirements here, too, because when I was reading through the Indiana Code, the bond rules genuinely confused me.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Yeah, bonds confuse a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Right. So to become a notary, you have to purchase a $25,000 corporate surety bond. The state recently banned those uh freehold bonds, where you basically pledge your personal real estate as collateral.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Right, freehold is out.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

So it must be a corporate surety bond. But if I am paying for a $25,000 bond, um it doesn't even cover my own mistakes.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Yeah, that is probably the single most dangerous misconception about holding a commission. People hear, oh, I have a $25,000 bond, and they just assume they have $25,000 worth of insurance if they screw up.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Right. That's what I would think.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

But the bond strictly protects the public from you.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Aaron Powell So if I fail to properly check someone's ID and they use a fake driver's license to, I don't know, fraudulently transfer the title of a house.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

The victim goes after your bond, the victim makes a claim against it, and the surety company will pay out up to $25,000 to make that victim whole.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

But here is the kicker a surety bond is not insurance. It is basically a line of credit guaranteeing your performance. Oh yes. The surety company will turn right around, take you to court, and sue you, the notary, to recoup every single penny of that $25,000.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

Wow. So the bond is really just the state making sure the public gets a guaranteed fast payout. But I am still personally on the hook for the full amount.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Exactly. Which is why errors and omissions insurance, EO insurance, is practically a necessity in this field, even though the state of Indiana does not legally require it.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Okay, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Yeah, the bond protects the public, but EO insurance actually protects the notary's personal bank account from unintentional mistakes.

SPEAKER_03 7:31

All right. I think that's a perfect spot to pause. We are going to take a quick commercial break, but don't go anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Yeah, we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

And hey, while we're on break, if you want to really level up your expertise, you should absolutely grab the Notary Knowledge books by Derek Sproul. They are fantastic resources.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Absolutely. And you guys should also visit the notary knowledge website and be sure to check out our video podcast, No Notary, with Eddie Montes Travis, and definitely watch Maryland's 90 seconds of notary shorts. So much good stuff there.

SPEAKER_03 8:02

Tons of great resources for you guys. All right, we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

See you in a minute.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Okay, and we are back. So we've established that once you possess this highly bonded eight-year authority, you are carrying around a massive amount of liability.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Oh, a ton of liability.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

Because of that, the state places severe restrictions on exactly how and for whom you can use that stamp. The ethical prohibitions are incredibly strict. Like for starters, you obviously cannot notarize any document for yourself or for your spouse.

SPEAKER_02 8:33

Right. The law flatly states that performing a notarial act for yourself or your spouse renders the act void, but the prohibition actually goes deeper than that. Oh, so you cannot notarize any transaction where you or your spouse receives a direct beneficial interest. So if your spouse is gaining financially from a business contract, you cannot act as the impartial witness to that contract.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Okay, but what about other family members? Like if my brother comes to me with mortgage documents for his new house, am I allowed to notarize those?

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Ah, so this enters the dangerous gray area of consanguinity, meaning blood relatives. Right. Under the strict letter of Indiana law, it is not explicitly illegal to notarize for your brother, your parents, or your children, provided you aren't receiving a direct beneficial interest.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

Aaron Powell So because I'm not getting money from my brother's house, I'm technically in the clear.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Technically. But from a practical legal standpoint, it is a massive risk due to that beneficial interest test.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

How does that actually play out in the real world, though? Say there is a dispute over that property down the line.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Aaron Ross Powell Well, if that document ends up in litigation, the opposing lawyer is gonna pull the deed, look at the notary stamp, and say to the judge, Your Honor, this contract was supposedly witnessed impartially, but the notary is the signer's own brother. We allege undue influence and fraud. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Yeah, I can see that.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Right. The document invites immediate, intense legal scrutiny. So even if it is technically legal to stamp your brother's paperwork, it might be the exact reason the document gets thrown out of court.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Aaron Ross Powell You are basically handing the opposing legal counsel a loaded weapon.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Aaron Powell Pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 10:13

And the rules are even more protective when we look at vulnerable populations. A notary absolutely cannot take an acknowledgement from someone who has been adjudged mentally incompetent or is under guardianship.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

But what if a signer is sitting in front of you? They're completely mentally competent, but they are blind.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

The state requires the notary to act as a protective barrier here. If the signer is blind, the notary must read the entire document to them first.

SPEAKER_03 10:40

The whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

The whole thing. You cannot simply guide their hand to the signature line. And similarly, if the signer does not speak English, the document must be translated into a language they understand so they comprehend the nature and effect of the transaction.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

That makes total sense. And you know, that protective barrier concept is also why the state cracks down so hard on notario fraud.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Oh yeah. That's a huge issue.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

Engaging in notario publico deception in Indiana is a class A misdemeanor.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

It is, and it's really a systemic issue born out of language and cultural differences. Because in many Latin American countries, a notario publico is actually a highly trained elite lawyer who can draft legal documents, represent clients, and give legal advice.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

It's a prestigious legal title over there.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

Exactly. But in the United States, as we know, a notary public just verifies identity and willingness to sign. So predators exploit that translation.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

Aaron Powell Right. Unscrupulous individuals will set up shop in Spanish-speaking communities, hang a sign that says notario publico, and deliberately imply that they are lawyers.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Yeah, and then they charge exorbitant fees for legal advice they are entirely unqualified to give. They often end up destroying people's immigration cases in the process because they file the wrong paperwork.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

It's heartbreaking. So to stop this, Indiana mandates that any notary who is not a licensed attorney and who advertises their services in any language must include a highly visible disclaimer.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

Yep. It has to say, I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in Indiana, and I may not give legal advice or accept fees for legal advice.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

And if they violate that or engage in notario deception, the penalty is permanent, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 12:17

It is. A judge will revoke their commission and they receive a lifetime ban from ever being a notary in Indiana again.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Wow. Now I want to pivot a bit because if you are listening to this and thinking, when I just notarize standard forms at my office, this doesn't really apply to me. I want you to consider this scenario.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

This is a classic one.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

Right. Your boss, the person who signs your paychecks and who probably paid for your $25,000 bond and your ink stamp, walks into your office, drops a stack of documents on your desk and says, Hey, the client had to leave in a hurry, but I saw them sign these. Just stamp them so we can close the deal.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

I mean, the pressure in that moment is immense. It's like what we saw on prior shows, you know, with Fiona in Idaho dealing with abuse of power, or Patty in DC with those rushed petitions. But the legal reality in Indiana is absolute. You have to say no. Even if the employer paid for every single part of your commission, that commission belongs entirely to you, the individual notary.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

You can't just use the defense my boss forced me to do it.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

No court cares about office politics. Yielding to an employer's pressure to notarize outside the physical presence of the signer constitutes official misconduct.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Period.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Period. Notarizing a signature when the person isn't in front of you renders the document void, strips you of your commission, and opens you up to personal civil and criminal liability. The physical presence of the signer is the absolute non-negotiable core of the traditional notarial act.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Which brings us to the biggest shift in this entire landscape because technology has completely redefined what physical presence actually means.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Oh, it really has.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

In July of 2020, Indiana overhauled its laws to authorize remote online notarization, or on.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Right. Ron allows the signer to appear in real time via a secure, state-approved audiovisual platform. They no longer have to breathe the same air as the notary.

SPEAKER_03 14:08

But I'm looking at the requirements, and this isn't just jumping on a FaceTime call and holding your driver's license up to the webcam, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Oh, not at all. It requires a serious upgrade to your commission. You have to pay a separate $100 fee, pass a distinct remote notary exam, and contract with a tech vendor explicitly approved by the Secretary of State.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

Aaron Powell Okay, so it's heavily regulated software.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Extremely. These platforms are required to use advanced identity proofing, specifically credential analysis and dynamic knowledge-based authentication.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

Aaron Powell Hold on, let's break down that jargon for a second. What exactly is dynamic knowledge-based authentication?

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Right. So think of it as a quiz that only you can pass, generated in real time by a computer scrubbing your public and financial record.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

Oh, like when it asks about past addresses.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Exactly. The software might pull from your credit history and ask, which of these four streets did you live on in 2012? Or which of these banks held your car loan in 2018? A hacker with your stolen physical ID card just wouldn't know those answers.

SPEAKER_03 15:10

Aaron Powell Because they're so specific.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yeah. And because this requires so much more technological overhead, the state changes the fee structure. A standard physical in-person notarization in Indiana is strictly capped at $10 per act. But for a remote online notarization, you can bill up to $25 per act.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

But that increase fee brings an incredible increase in record keeping. Under the 10-year rule, a remote notary must keep a secure, password-protected electronic journal of every remote act, AD a full audiovisual recording of the entire session for at least 10 years.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

Wait, 10 years? That is an enormous amount of video data for one person to securely store.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

It is, but it ties directly into the statutes of limitations for fraud and property disputes.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Yeah. If someone challenges a real estate transfer seven years after the fact, claiming their signature was forged, the court needs to see the proof. The notary has to be able to retrieve that video file and show the judge the exact moment the person was authenticated and sign the document.

SPEAKER_03 16:17

So you are basically a walking, highly secured legal archive.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

You are.

SPEAKER_03 16:21

But here is the question about remote notarization that really jumps out at me.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

Okay, what is it?

SPEAKER_03 16:26

If this is all happening on the internet and the signer can be sitting in a coffee shop in Tokyo, why does the notary legally have to be physically sitting inside the borders of Indiana? I mean, the internet is borderless.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

That is a great question. It comes down to the jurisdictional boundaries of state sovereignty. An Indiana Notary Public is commissioned by the governor of Indiana. Right. So their legal authority is inherently derived from and tethered to the sovereign borders of the state.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

So they project Indiana's legal authority out into the internet, but the projector itself has to be physically plugged into an outlet in Indiana.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Exactly. I love that analogous. And if you unplug that projector and move it to a coffee shop in Chicago, the screen just goes blank. You have zero legal authority. Wow. Yeah. If an Indiana notary crosses the border into Illinois and performs a remote notarization from their laptop, the act is completely invalid.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

It is such a wild mix of 21st century cloud technology restricted by like 19th century geographical borders. Now let's talk about the bureaucracy for a second. Because even if you navigate the $25,000 bond, the ethical mind feels and the complex digital platforms perfectly.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

I know where this is going.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

The document can still hit a brick wall. A flawlessly executed notarization will be flatly rejected if it doesn't meet incredibly specific bureaucratic aesthetics at the county level.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

Oh man, the county recorder is basically the final boss of this process. The notary might have verified the identity perfectly, but if the physical document violates local recording rules, it is not going into the public record.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

Let's look at Porter County as a prime example, sort of a little who's your handbook breakdown, some Indiana trivia for you.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

Oh, the margin rules.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Yes. If you submit a document to the Porter County recorder, it will be rejected if it does not meet the strict two-inch margin rule. The first and last pages must have a minimum two-inch margin on the top and bottom and a half inch margin on the sides.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

And this is statutory. The recorder's office physically needs that specific two-inch blank space to affix their own official recording stamps and barcode stickers. If your text bleeds into that space even a little bit, they kick it back.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Imagine being a real estate agent trying to close a multimillion dollar commercial property, and the entire deal just derails on a Friday afternoon because someone used a 1.5-inch margin on page one.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

It happened all the time, just like Lucas in Oregon dealing with that travel fee mess we talked about before. It's just administrative friction.

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Exactly. And there are other strict mandates too. Documents cannot contain a social security number unless explicitly required by law. The preparer must include a sworn affirmation statement that they have taken reasonable care to redact any SSN.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Right, and every document also needs a prepared by statement explicitly naming the person who drafted the instrument.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

And speaking of hyperspecific laws, this brings up a really interesting piece of recent legislation, House Bill 1056, which was signed in 2021.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Oh, right, the emergency fix.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

Yeah, this was an emergency fix for a legislative typo that caused absolute chaos in the real estate market.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

Yeah, back in July 2020, a new state law accidentally created this redundant requirement. The language essentially stated that for a document to be recorded, it needed both a notarial acknowledgement from the signer AND, a separate proof from a witness.

SPEAKER_03 19:51

Wait, so you basically had to notarize things twice.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Basically. It was an unintentional error in the bill's wording. Someone replaced an or with an and.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

You're kidding, one word.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

One word. And since recorders have to follow the exact letter of the law, thousands of standard documents were suddenly non-compliant. HB 1056 had to be rushed through the State House to fix it, clarifying that you only need either a notarial acknowledgement or a witness proof.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

Thank goodness.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Yeah. And it even provided retroactive protection for documents recorded during the months that the bad law was active, so people wouldn't, you know, lose their homes over a typo.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

That is wild. The rules are constantly evolving to remove friction, though. Just this past summer, as of July 1st, 2024, the state updated the physical requirements for the notary stamp itself.

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Yeah. The state removed the requirement that the actual word seal has to appear on the physical stamp.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

Wait, so the seal doesn't need to say seal?

SPEAKER_02 20:46

No, it doesn't. I mean, it still absolutely must contain the notary's exact name, the words notary public, state of Indiana, the commission number, and the expiration date. But the word seal is no longer statutorily required.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

That's fascinating.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

If you're a notary ordering your supplies or maybe a lawyer reviewing a 2025 document for compliance, knowing that nuance is just critical to verifying the document's validity.

SPEAKER_03 21:13

You know, I think the next time you as a listener sit across a desk and watch someone press a simple ink stamp onto a car title or a power of attorney, you're going to view that interaction completely differently.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

I would hope so.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

You aren't just looking at a piece of rubber and some ink. You are looking at the culmination of an eight-year commission, a $25,000 surety bond, 10-year video retention rules, and just a labyrinth of ethical landmines.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Exactly. You are witnessing a highly trained public official executing a process designed to protect the very foundation of our property and legal rights. Oh, let's hear it.

SPEAKER_03 21:55

We've seen how Indiana has rapidly evolved from ink and paper to authorizing video feeds and dynamic data scrubbing across the planet, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Right.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

If state law now allows a notary to verify the signature of a total stranger sitting in a coffee shop on the other side of the globe using digital platforms and algorithms, how long will it be until artificial intelligence and biometric blockchain ledgers replace the need for a state commissioned human witness entirely?

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

Will the impartial witness of the future simply be a piece of code that can never be bribed or pressured by a boss? It's definitely something to think about the next time you sign your name on the dotted line.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

That is a great question to end on. And hey, for our listeners, be sure to email your questions to Derek at derekspruell.com. We will try to answer them as soon as possible at the end of our shows.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

Absolutely. Big thanks to our team, executive producer Derek Sprill, lead writer Marilyn Lee Trotter, graphics by Eddie Montez Travis, music by Thomas Bynum, and produced by Magnificent Works Business Solutions.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Don't just be listeners of the knowledge, be doers of the knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

This is notary knowledge. Until next time. Are you truly protected as a notary public? Navigate the complex legal framework with confidence using notary law and liability by Derek Spruil. This essential guide provides a deep dive into state regulations, ensuring you stay compliant across jurisdictions. Learn how to properly use errors and omissions insurance and master the critical boundaries to strictly avoid the unauthorized practice of law. Protect yourself, your commission, and your business.