6.1 Notary Fees

Notary Fees in North Carolina (G.S. 10B-31)

The maximum fee statute is one of the most heavily tested topics on the North Carolina notary exam because the numbers are precise and the consequences for overcharging are severe. Under G.S. 10B-31, the General Assembly sets a ceiling on what a notary may collect for each notarial act. A notary may always charge less than the cap, or waive the fee entirely, but charging even one cent more than the statutory maximum is a Class 1 misdemeanor under G.S. 10B-60 and independent grounds for the Secretary of State to revoke the commission.

The cap is keyed to the principal signature, not to the document. If three people sign the same deed, that is three signatures; if one person signs three different documents, that is also three notarized signatures.

The Three Fee Tiers

Worked Fee Examples

Memorize the multiplication, not just the unit price. Exam questions almost always combine the per-signature cap with a count.

• One signer, one paper acknowledgment → $10 maximum.
• Three signers on one paper deed → 3 × $10 = $30 maximum.
• One signer, three separate paper documents → 3 × $10 = $30 (the cap is per signature, not per visit).
• Two signers, in-person electronic jurat → 2 × $15 = $30.
• One signer via RON → $25 maximum.
• A notary charges $12 for a paper acknowledgment → unlawful; overcharge of $2 is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Travel Fees Are NOT Notarial Fees

A frequent trap: travel is not a notarial act, so it is not governed by the G.S. 10B-31 cap and is not automatically allowed either. A notary may charge for travel only if all of the following are met:

• The principal agrees to the travel fee in writing before the travel occurs;
• The amount does not exceed the federal (IRS) standard business mileage rate;
• The charge is itemized separately from the notarial fee.

The travel fee is a private contract between notary and client; it must never be folded into the per-signature notarial charge, or it looks like an illegal overcharge.

Acts With No Fee or Special Status

The Logic Behind the Three Tiers

Understanding why the fees rise from paper to electronic to remote will help you remember the numbers under exam pressure. A paper notarization is the baseline act: the signer is physically present, and the notary uses an inked stamp, so the cost ceiling is the lowest at $10. An in-person electronic notarization still requires personal presence, but the notary must use a registered electronic-notary platform, software, and a digital certificate, which justifies the higher $15 ceiling.

A remote online notarization adds audio-video communication technology, identity-proofing and credential analysis vendors, tamper-evident technology, and a mandatory ten-year retention obligation — the most expensive infrastructure, capped at $25. The fee tiers track the technology burden, not the difficulty of any particular document.

Because the cap is statutory, a notary cannot negotiate a higher number even when a client is desperate, the document is enormous, or the appointment runs late into the evening. The only lawful ways to collect more than the per-signature cap are to (1) notarize additional separate signatures, each at its own capped rate, or (2) charge a lawful, separately agreed travel fee. Anything else risks an overcharge finding.

Documenting Fees Protects You

While North Carolina does not require a posted fee schedule, prudent notaries record the exact fee collected for each act in their journal and, when asked, provide a simple receipt. If a client later complains to the Secretary of State that they were overcharged, the journal entry showing "$10.00 — acknowledgment, one signature" is decisive evidence that the notary stayed within the cap. The fee record also helps a mobile or RON notary keep travel charges visibly separate from notarial charges, which is exactly what investigators look for when a complaint arrives.

Exam Watch-Outs

• $10 / $15 / $25 map to paper / in-person electronic / remote online — mixing these up is the single most common error.
• The cap is per principal signature, never per page or per document.
• A notary cannot demand a higher fee for a complex or long document; complexity does not raise the cap.
• Overcharging is criminal and a commission-revocation ground — both penalties can apply at once.
• A notary may always charge less than the cap or waive the fee — the statute sets a ceiling, never a floor.
• Travel fees live outside the cap and require a separate written agreement made before the travel, limited to the federal mileage rate.