5.1 Notary Fees

How Maine Treats Notary Fees

Maine adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) effective July 1, 2023. Under RULONA, Maine departs from the fixed per-signature fee schedules common in neighboring states. Instead of telling notaries exactly what to charge, the law tells them how to charge: set a reasonable fee, disclose it, and get agreement first. Exam questions probe whether you know there is no general cap, that one narrow statutory exception exists, and that the disclosure rule is mandatory — not optional courtesy.

The Core Rule — No General Maximum

There is no statutory maximum for ordinary acts such as acknowledgments, jurats (verifications on oath or affirmation), oaths and affirmations, signature witnessing, and copy certifications. The notary decides the price. The word the statute uses is reasonable — a deliberately flexible standard tied to market rates, complexity, and travel, not a fixed dollar figure.

The One Statutory Exception

Noting or protesting a dishonored negotiable instrument — a commercial-paper function tied to the Uniform Commercial Code — is the lone act Maine statute prices, and it is limited to $1.25. This is a classic trap answer: a question asking "which Maine notarial act has a statutory fee cap?" is testing this fact.

Disclosure Is Mandatory and Must Come First

RULONA requires that before performing the act the notary (1) disclose the fee in writing to the person requesting service, and (2) obtain that person's agreement to the fee. Disclosing afterward, on an invoice, or only when asked does not satisfy the rule. The sequence is: quote → written disclosure → agreement → perform the act → collect.

Wrong: Notarize → then hand over a bill the signer never approved.
Right: Disclose fee in writing → signer agrees → notarize → collect.

Travel, Convenience, and Mobile Fees

A mobile or signing-agent notary who travels to a hospital, home, or title closing may charge a separate travel or convenience fee in addition to the notarial fee. Because travel charges are not capped, the disclosure rule does the protective work: the fee must be quoted and agreed to in advance.

Worked Example

A mobile notary is asked to drive 30 minutes to a nursing home to notarize a power of attorney for one signer. She quotes, in a text message the signer confirms, "$10 per notarized signature plus a $40 travel fee." The signer agrees, and she performs one acknowledgment. Her total of $50 is fully proper: the act fee is reasonable, the travel fee is permitted, and both were disclosed in writing and agreed to before she drove out. Had she shown up, notarized, and then announced the $40 travel charge, she would have violated the disclosure-and-agreement rule even though the dollar amount is otherwise lawful.

Employee Notaries

Many Maine notaries are commissioned because their employer (a bank, law firm, or title company) needs in-house notarial services. Two issues recur on the exam:

A notary may always choose to charge nothing — for family, charity, military members, or as a courtesy. Maine does not require a fee; it only regulates how a fee, if charged, is set and disclosed.

Exam Traps to Avoid

• Picking a dollar figure ("$2", "$10") as Maine's general maximum — there is none.
• Forgetting the $1.25 cap on noting a dishonored instrument.
• Thinking verbal disclosure is enough — RULONA requires the fee be disclosed in writing with the signer's agreement before the act.
• Assuming the employer owns the commission — the commission is personal to the notary.
• Confusing the $50 application fee paid to the Secretary of State with the fee a notary charges the public — they are unrelated.

Fee vs. Application Fee

Do not confuse two different dollar amounts the exam may juxtapose. The $50 commission application fee is what the applicant pays the Secretary of State to obtain or renew a seven-year commission; it is a cost the notary bears, not a charge to the public. The notarial fee is what the notary may charge a signer for performing an act — reasonable, uncapped (except the $1.25 protest fee), and subject to written disclosure. A question that mixes "$50" into a list of per-act fee options is testing whether you can tell the licensing cost from the service charge.