All notarization in the state of California is subject to the California Government Code Section 8211. Amendments made to the Notaries Public via Stats. 2016 was made effective from January 1st, 2017.
This suggests California law has put a cap on the maximum fees a notary may charge. That means, the notary may charge any applicable notary feess for services, without exceeding the maximum limit.
Let’s take a look at the maximum notary fee for some of the standard services provided by a notary.
You may pay up to $15 for each signature, for an acknowledgment, proof of a deed, or any other instrument. This includes the seal and writing of the certificate.
When executing the Jurat for administering an oath or providing an affirmation to a person, you may have to pay a notary fee up to $15 per signature, including the seal.
The notary fees for all services in connection with the taking of any deposition are $30. For administering the oath to the witness, you may have to pay an additional $7. And in case you need a certificate for the deposition, you may have to pay another $7.
It is important to note that only a certified shorthand reporter who has been licensed by the Court Reporters Board of California can make a deposition. If a notary public does not have such certification, the notary public should inform you and ask you to contact a certified shorthand reporter.
To get a copy of a power of attorney certified from a public notary, you may have to pay notary fees of $15 per copy as provided under Section 4307 of the Probate Code.
The California state law permits public notaries to certify only copies of the Power of Attorney and notarize journal entries. If you need certification of any other document, you will need to get the copy certification done by the document custodian.
Every line item copied from the notary public’s journal will be subject to notary fees of $0.30 per line item.
The California notary code permits notaries to levy less than $15 for each notarized signature and an additional travel fee. The travel fee is not regulated and must be disclosed separately.
A notary public may decide to waive travel fees and the notary fees for specific cases, such as providing photocopies of the notary journal pages.
There is no charge for notarizing signatures on the vote, whether through mail-ballot identification envelopes or other voting materials.
Further, according to Section 6107, a US military veteran may be exempt from paying notary fees for notarizing an application or claiming a pension, allotment, allowance, compensation, insurance, or any other veteran’s benefit.
Note: There is no requirement to charge any minimum notary fees. But each fee charged must be entered in the notary journal in chronology.
For more information on notary public, contact the Notary Council.