How Much Does a Notary Cost in California?

State law sets the maximum a California notary may charge for each service listed in Government Code section 8211, which says the fees "shall not exceed the fees prescribed by this section." A notary may charge that amount or less, and may charge nothing unless the notary's fees are required by law to be remitted to a public agency.

Those maximums change on January 1, 2027, under Assembly Bill 1597. Through December 31, 2026, the maximums set before AB 1597 still apply. The notaries' guide explains where that date comes from.

This guide is for people who need a document notarized. The amounts through December 31, 2026 come from section 8211 as the California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition, published by the Secretary of State, reproduces it. The amounts from January 1, 2027 come from AB 1597 as chaptered. If you are a notary, California's Maximum Notary Fees Rise on January 1, 2027 covers what the change means for your own work.

This guide is not the course. It is general information about California notary law, not legal advice. Reading it does not count toward the six hours of education a first notary commission requires or the three hours of a refresher, and cannot. That 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. The Secretary of State's approval of two notrai courses of study covers those courses and nothing else, and it is not an endorsement or recommendation of the courses, of notrai or of this website.

The maximum fees in section 8211

The table covers only the services section 8211 lists. The notaries' fee guide also covers two caps outside it, neither amended by AB 1597: what a notary qualified and bonded as an immigration consultant may charge for entering data on immigration forms, in Immigration forms, and the most a notary may charge for a copy of a line item from the notary's journal, in Thirty cents a page.

An acknowledgment is priced per signature. Section 8211 sets that amount "for each signature taken". If two people sign a deed and each has a signature acknowledged, the maximum is twice the per-signature amount: $30 through December 31, 2026, and $40 from January 1, 2027.

A notary should not pick between an acknowledgment and a jurat for you. The handbook counts "the preparation, drafting, or selection or determination of the kind of any legal document" among the acts that make up the practice of law, which California notaries may not perform, and says a notary asked to perform such tasks "should decline and refer the requester to an attorney." The two certificates are explained, for notaries, in Acknowledgment vs. Jurat.

A maximum, not a price

The handbook states the notary's discretion directly: "a notary public may decide to charge no fee or an amount that is less than the maximum amount prescribed by law. The charging of a fee and the amount of the fee charged is at the discretion of the notary public or the notary public's employer, provided it does not exceed the maximum fees."

So a notary may charge you less than the table shows, or nothing, unless the notary's fees are required by law to be remitted to a public agency, and where a notary works for an employer, the employer may decide the amount, up to the maximum. Both limits are explained in A ceiling is not a price. From January 1, 2027, as now, section 8211 sets a ceiling, not a price.

When no fee may be charged

The handbook lists five no-fee exceptions together. They are not every no-fee rule in California law, and several of the statutes behind them read differently from the handbook's one-line summaries, so each is quoted with its statute in The five no-fee exceptions the handbook lists together. In short, no fee may be charged:

• to notarize signatures on vote by mail ballot identification envelopes or other voting materials;
• to a United States military veteran for notarizing an application or claim for a pension, allotment, allowance, compensation, insurance or other veteran's benefit;
• for verifying a nomination document or circulator's affidavit;
• by a notary working for a public entity, for services in an affidavit, application or voucher relating to securing a pension;
• by a notary appointed to a military or naval reservation, for service rendered within the reservation.

AB 1597 changes none of the five. It keeps the voting-materials and veterans' rules in section 8211 word for word and does not amend the other sections they rest on.

Travel fees

The handbook mentions travel fees in one place: its list of what each entry in a notary's journal contains. After "The fee charged for the notarial service", it adds: "Note: Travel fees, if any, should be identified, separately." The handbook says nothing more about them.

If you were charged more than the maximum

Which column applies depends on the date, and neither AB 1597 nor section 8211 says which date controls when a notarization falls on one side of January 1, 2027 and its payment on the other. About travel fees, the handbook says only what is quoted above.

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. The Secretary of State's Notary Public Section is listed below.

Official sources

• California Notary Public Handbook, which reproduces section 8211 as it reads through December 31, 2026 — www.sos.ca.gov/notary
• Assembly Bill 1597 (Chapter 39, Statutes of 2026), which sets the maximums from January 1, 2027 — bill text
• Secretary of State, Notary Public Section — Business Programs Division, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, California 94277-0001; (916) 653-3595