7.1 Notary Fee Schedules

How Notary Fees Are Structured

A notary fee is the charge a notary public may collect for performing an official notarial act (an acknowledgment, jurat, oath/affirmation, signature witnessing, or copy certification). Every U.S. state sets a statutory maximum in its notary statute. Charging above that maximum is an overcharge — a violation that can trigger fines, complaint investigations, and commission revocation. The cap is the single most common factual point tested in this chapter, so memorize the rule before any state number.

Per Act, Not Per Document or Per Page

The fee attaches to the act, not the paperwork. One document can require several acts, and one act can cover a 200-page document for a single fee.

• A husband and wife each acknowledging one deed = 2 acknowledgment acts = 2 fees.
• A 50-page contract with one signer's acknowledgment = 1 act = 1 fee.
• The same person signing three separate affidavits, each requiring a jurat = 3 jurat acts = 3 fees.
• One signer needing both an acknowledgment and a separate oath = 2 acts = 2 fees.

Maximum, Not Fixed

State fees are ceilings, not set prices. A notary may charge any amount from $0 up to the maximum. Bank tellers, law-firm staff, and employer-provided notaries routinely notarize for free as a customer service. There is no minimum and no requirement to charge the full cap.

Representative State Maximums (2026)

Fees vary dramatically. New York is the lowest at $2 (Executive Law § 136, unchanged for decades); California is among the highest at $15 per signature (Government Code § 8211, with bill AB 1597 proposing a raise to $20).

Exam trap: numbers drift year to year. The exam tests the rules (per act, maximum-not-minimum, overcharging is illegal) far more than any single dollar figure. Always verify your own state's current schedule before commissioning.

Travel Fees and Mobile Service

When a notary travels to the signer (a mobile notary), they may charge a separate travel or convenience fee. In most states this fee is not regulated — it is a business charge, not a notarial fee — so it falls outside the per-act cap.

Key distinction: the travel fee is separate from and additional to the per-act fee. A mobile notary may charge a $75 travel fee plus the $10 per-act cap — the $75 does not count against the cap. A few states (e.g., California limits some travel charges to IRS mileage rates in specific contexts) impose limits, so the exam answer is "travel fees are generally unregulated, but disclose them in advance."

Posting, Disclosure, and Waiving Fees

Many states require notaries to post a fee schedule visibly at their workplace, disclose all fees in advance, and provide a receipt on request. A notary may waive the fee entirely — common for bank/employer notaries, friends, or charitable service.

A notary may never accept a fee for services they are not authorized to perform. Charging to "draft" a document or give legal advice compounds an unauthorized practice of law (UPL) violation with an illegal-fee violation.

Recordkeeping and Worked Fee Example

Where a state requires a journal (notary record book), many also require the notary to record the fee charged for each act. This makes overcharging easy for regulators to detect on audit. Walk through a realistic mobile appointment in a $10-per-act state:

• Signer needs a power of attorney acknowledged (1 act), a separate affidavit with a jurat (1 act), and an oath administered to a witness (1 act) = 3 acts x $10 = $30 in notarial fees.
• The notary drove 20 miles after hours and charges a flat $60 travel fee.
• Lawful total = $90 ($30 capped notarial fees + $60 unregulated, pre-disclosed travel fee).

If the same notary had instead billed "$30 per act" for the three acts, that $90 in notarial fees would be an illegal overcharge of $60 even though the grand total looks identical — because the cap applies act by act, not to the bill as a whole.

Common Fee Traps on the Exam

• Treating a multi-page document as multiple acts (wrong — it is the acts that count, not pages).
• Assuming travel fees must fit under the per-act cap (wrong — they are separate in most states).
• Believing a notary must charge the posted maximum (wrong — it is a ceiling; $0 is allowed).
• Collecting a fee for advising a signer which form to use (wrong — that is UPL plus an unauthorized fee).

On the exam: per act, maximum-not-minimum, travel fees are separate, overcharging is punishable, fees are recorded in the journal where required, and you can never collect for unauthorized acts.