Guide · California notary public
California's Maximum Notary Fees Rise on January 1, 2027
AB 1597 raises California's maximum notary fees on January 1, 2027. Until then, the maximums set before AB 1597 still apply. Both schedules, and where the date comes from.
The maximum fees in Government Code section 8211 go up on January 1, 2027. Assembly Bill 1597 rewrites the section, raising every dollar amount in it and leaving its two no-fee rules as they were. The Governor approved the bill on June 30, 2026, and it was filed with the Secretary of State that day as Chapter 39, Statutes of 2026.
The maximums do not change before then. Through December 31, 2026, the maximums set before AB 1597 remain the law, so charging $20 for a signature on an acknowledgment in December 2026 is charging more than section 8211 allows in 2026.
The 2027 amounts below are taken from the bill as chaptered, and the 2026 amounts from the California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition, published by the Secretary of State, which reproduces section 8211 as it reads through December 31, 2026. The date comes from the California Constitution.
This guide is not the course. Reading it does not count toward the six hours a first commission requires or the three hours of a refresher, and cannot. The statutory education requirement is satisfied only by completing a course of study the Secretary of State has approved and receiving that vendor's Proof of Completion certificate. This page is general information about California notary law, not legal advice.
The maximums through December 31, 2026, and from January 1, 2027
| Section 8211 | Service | Maximum through December 31, 2026 | Maximum from January 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | Taking an acknowledgment or proof of a deed or other instrument, including the seal and writing the certificate | $15 for each signature taken | $20 for each signature taken |
| (b) | Administering an oath or affirmation to one person and executing the jurat, including the seal | $15 | $20 |
| (c) | All services rendered in connection with taking a deposition | $30 | $35 |
| (c) | Administering the oath to the witness, in addition | $7 | $12 |
| (c) | The certificate to the deposition, in addition | $7 | $12 |
| (d) | Notarizing signatures on vote by mail ballot identification envelopes or other voting materials | No fee may be charged | No fee may be charged |
| (e) | Certifying a copy of a power of attorney under Probate Code section 4307 | $15 | $20 |
| (f) | Notarizing a United States military veteran's application or claim for a pension, allotment, allowance, compensation, insurance or other veteran's benefit | No fee may be charged | No fee may be charged |
The section's opening sentence does not change: "Fees charged by a notary public for the following services shall not exceed the fees prescribed by this section." Nor does the shape of the schedule. Subdivision (a) is still priced for each signature taken, and subdivision (c) is still three figures, which as amended read: "For all services rendered in connection with the taking of any deposition, the sum of thirty-five dollars ($35), and in addition thereto, the sum of twelve dollars ($12) for administering the oath to the witness and the sum of twelve dollars ($12) for the certificate to the deposition." Every line of the schedule as it reads through December 31, 2026 is quoted in full in The schedule, in the statute's own words. The same maximums, set out for the people you notarize, are in How Much Does a Notary Cost in California?.
The table has no row for immigration forms. That cap is set by Government Code section 8223(b), not by section 8211: $15 per individual for each set of forms, for a notary qualified and bonded as an immigration consultant who enters data provided by the client on immigration forms provided by a federal or state agency. AB 1597 does not amend section 8223, so it leaves that cap at $15. The fee and its conditions are covered in Immigration forms: the one row with a license attached.
The bill's first section sets out the Legislature's findings. One is that "[t]he recent inflationary cycle has significantly increased the cost of living and doing business in California." Another reads: "To ensure that notaries public can continue to provide essential services to the public, it is necessary to adjust the maximum fees they may charge for certain services."
Where January 1, 2027 comes from
AB 1597 does not say when it takes effect. It has two sections, the Legislature's findings and the new text of section 8211, and neither sets a date. The date comes from article IV, section 8(c)(1) of the California Constitution, under which a statute enacted at a regular session "shall go into effect on January 1 next following a 90-day period from the date of enactment of the statute".
AB 1597 was enacted at the 2025–2026 Regular Session. The Governor approved it on June 30, 2026, and it was filed with the Secretary of State that day. A 90-day period from June 30, 2026 ends in late September 2026, and the next January 1 is January 1, 2027.
Paragraph (1) opens "Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subdivision".
Paragraph (3) puts three kinds of statute into effect "immediately upon their enactment": statutes calling elections, statutes providing for tax levies or appropriations for the usual current expenses of the State, and urgency statutes. AB 1597 calls no election and levies no tax, and the Legislative Counsel's Digest records that it makes no appropriation. Nor is it an urgency statute. Section 8(d) requires that "A statement of facts constituting the necessity shall be set forth in one section of the bill", and that the section and the bill pass separately in each house, each with two thirds of the membership concurring. AB 1597 has no such section. Its two sections are the Legislature's findings and the new text of section 8211, and its digest lists the vote it required as majority.
Paragraph (2) covers a statute enacted by a bill "passed by the Legislature on or before the date the Legislature adjourns for a joint recess to reconvene in the second calendar year of the biennium of the legislative session, and in the possession of the Governor after that date". AB 1597 was introduced on January 16, 2026, passed the Assembly on March 16, 2026 and the Senate on June 18, 2026, and was approved by the Governor on June 30, 2026, all in the second calendar year of the 2025–2026 session. This article's reading, not the Constitution's words: the recess paragraph (2) describes is the one that carries the Legislature from the first calendar year into the second. AB 1597 was not passed until after that recess began, so paragraph (2) does not apply to it.
Until January 1, 2027, the maximums set before AB 1597 apply
Through December 31, 2026, the amended section 8211 is not in effect, and the amounts in the table's Maximum through December 31, 2026 column are the maximums. A notary who charges $20 for a signature on an acknowledgment in December 2026, or $12 for the certificate to a deposition, charges more than section 8211 allows. Government Code section 8214.1 lists "Charging more than the fees prescribed by this chapter" among the grounds on which the Secretary of State may refuse to appoint a person as a notary public or revoke or suspend a commission, and section 8214.15(b) makes a violation of that ground punishable by a civil penalty of up to $750. Both are set out at the top of What California Notaries Can Charge.
AB 1597 has no transition rule. Neither the bill nor section 8211 says which date controls when a notarization falls on one side of January 1, 2027 and its payment on the other. If that is your situation, ask the Secretary of State's Notary Public Section, listed below.
A higher maximum is still only a maximum. From January 1, 2027, section 8211 still says fees "shall not exceed" its amounts. The January 2026 handbook, right after noting that section 8211 specifies the maximum fees, says that "a notary public may decide to charge no fee or an amount that is less than the maximum amount prescribed by law." That discretion has limits: a notary whose fees are required by law to be remitted to a public agency must charge for all services, and an employed notary's employer may decide the fee. Both are covered in A ceiling is not a price.
What stays at no fee
AB 1597 keeps subdivisions (d) and (f) word for word. From January 1, 2027, as now, no fee may be charged to notarize signatures on vote by mail ballot identification envelopes or other voting materials, and no fee may be charged to a United States military veteran for notarization of an application or a claim for a pension, allotment, allowance, compensation, insurance or any other veteran's benefit.
Those two are part of the handbook's list of five no-fee exceptions. The other three rest on Government Code sections 8203.6 and 6106 and on Elections Code section 8080, none of which AB 1597 amends. All five, each set beside the text of the statute it rests on, are in The five no-fee exceptions the handbook lists together.
Your posted fee notice and your journal from January 1, 2027
A posted fee notice, if you are required to post one. If you are not an attorney and you advertise the services of a notary public in a language other than English by signs or other means of written communication, other than a single desk plaque, Government Code section 8219.5(a) requires you to post with that advertisement a notice in English and in the other language. One of the things the notice sets forth is "The fees set by statute which a notary public may charge." For the services section 8211 lists, those are the amounts in the table's Maximum through December 31, 2026 column until that date, and the amounts in its Maximum from January 1, 2027 column from then on. The notice "shall be printed and posted as prescribed by the Secretary of State". Who the requirement reaches and what failing it costs are in Advertise in another language and your fees become public.
Your journal. AB 1597 does not amend section 8206, which sets what a journal entry contains. The handbook's list of those contents includes "The fee charged for the notarial service." That is the fee you actually charged, not the maximum. The handbook requires an entry even when you charge nothing, such as "no fee" or "0", and notes that travel fees, if any, should be identified separately. Everything else an entry contains is in California Notary Journal Requirements.
Official sources
- Assembly Bill 1597 (Chapter 39, Statutes of 2026) — bill text
- California Constitution, article IV, section 8 — text
- California Notary Public Handbook, which reproduces section 8211 as it reads through December 31, 2026 — www.sos.ca.gov/notary
- Secretary of State, Notary Public Section — Business Programs Division, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, California 94277-0001; (916) 653-3595
Where notrai fits
notrai is a California Secretary of State–approved notary public education vendor. The Secretary of State approved two notrai courses of study — the six-hour course for first-time applicants and the three-hour refresher for renewing notaries who meet all three of its conditions — each under its own certificate of approval. That approval covers those two courses of study and nothing else. It is not an endorsement or recommendation of the courses, of notrai or of this website, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Both courses are online and self-paced, and each issues a Proof of Completion certificate to a student who completes it.
Sourced from
Assembly Bill 1597 (Chapter 39, Statutes of 2026) and article IV, section 8 of the California Constitution, as published by the California Legislature and captured September 14, 2026; California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition (California Secretary of State). Statutory citations are to the codes that handbook reproduces or cites — principally the California Government Code and Civil Code, and also the Penal, Probate and Elections Codes and Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations, which the handbook cites without reproducing its text. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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