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Thanks to the passage of Assembly Bill 1597, California Notaries Public will finally get a bump in the maximum fees we are allowed to charge.
The Cali Notary — A DAY IN THE LIFE
California Notaries Public are finally getting a raise. Well, sort of.
On June 30, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill 1597, changing the maximum fees California notaries may charge for several common notarial services. Beginning January 1, 2027, the maximum fee for an acknowledgment or jurat will increase from $15 to $20.
For those of us who have watched the cost of gas, insurance, supplies and just about everything else involved in running a notary business climb over the past several years, this increase is welcome news.
Keep in mind, however, that these are maximum allowable notary fees. California does not require us to charge $20. A notary may charge less—or nothing at all—when permitted.
The new law amends California Government Code Section 8211 and increases several maximum notarial fees.
Here is what changes on January 1, 2027:
| Notarial Service | Through Dec. 31, 2026 | Beginning Jan. 1, 2027 |
| Acknowledgment or proof of a deed or other instrument | $15 per signature | $20 per signature |
| Oath or affirmation and execution of a jurat | $15 | $20 |
| Certified copy of a power of attorney | $15 | $20 |
| Services connected with taking a deposition | $30 | $35 |
| Administering an oath to a deposition witness | $7 | $12 |
| Certificate to a deposition | $7 | $12 |
The official chaptered version of California Assembly Bill 1597 spells out each of these new maximum fees. The bill was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on June 30, 2026.
One detail worth pointing out is the wording for acknowledgments. The $20 maximum applies for each signature taken. So if two people are each acknowledging a signature, the maximum notarial fee for those two signatures could be $40 beginning in 2027.
For a jurat, the law allows up to $20 for administering an oath or affirmation to one person and executing the jurat.
California notaries have been here before.
The maximum fee for many of our most common notarial acts remained at $10 for more than two decades. It finally increased from $10 to $15 on January 1, 2017. That was the first increase since 1994.
Now here we are nearly another decade later.
During that time, the expenses involved with providing professional notary services certainly did not stay frozen.
There is the cost of:
Anyone operating a mobile business in California already knows that getting from Point A to Point B isn’t exactly becoming cheaper.
In fact, the California Legislature specifically addressed this when passing AB 1597. The law recognizes that inflation has increased the cost of living and doing business and specifically mentions expenses such as supplies, transportation, insurance and continuing education as costs notaries incur while doing our jobs.
If you want a closer look at what it actually costs to get started and maintain a commission, we have also broken down the typical costs, fees and expenses of becoming a California notary.
So while an extra $5 per notarization may not sound like a windfall, it can make a difference for an active notary handling multiple appointments every week.
And no, I don’t think any of us will be retiring to a private island because acknowledgments went up five bucks.
The most important thing to understand is that AB 1597 changes the maximum fees we may charge for certain notarial acts.
It does not change the basic duties and responsibilities of a California Notary Public.
We still have to properly identify signers when identification is required. We still have to complete our journal entries. We still have to perform the correct notarial act and properly complete the notarial certificate.
The new law also does not make $20 a required fee.
A California notary can choose to charge less than the maximum. The statutory amount is a ceiling—not a price that every notary must charge every customer.
That distinction may become especially important during the first few months of 2027 when customers are still accustomed to paying $15.
Not everything goes up to $20.
AB 1597 keeps the existing protections that prohibit notaries from charging a fee for certain services.
A California Notary Public may not charge a notarial fee for notarizing signatures on:
Those no-fee provisions remain in Government Code Section 8211 after the 2027 changes.
This is also a good reminder that knowing what we cannot charge for is just as important as knowing the maximum amount we can charge.
That is ultimately a business decision.
The law will allow us to charge up to $20 for an acknowledgment or jurat beginning January 1, but nobody says every notary has to immediately change every price to the maximum.
Personally, I think active notaries should at least review their pricing.
We have absorbed years of increases in the cost of doing business while our maximum statutory fees stayed exactly the same.
If you operate a mobile notary business, those costs become even more noticeable. Driving across town, paying for parking, spending time in traffic and maintaining a vehicle all affect what an appointment is really worth.
This is why it’s important to understand the difference between the statutory fee for the notarial act and separate business charges associated with providing a mobile service.
A mobile notary may have legitimate travel or other non-notarial charges in addition to the regulated notarial fee. Those charges should be clearly explained and agreed upon so the customer understands what they are paying for.
For anyone looking at notary work as a source of income, our guide explaining how much a notary can make in California goes into much more detail about appointment volume, mobile fees, expenses and potential gross revenue.
Nobody enjoys being told that something costs more than it did the last time.
I fully expect there will be customers in 2027 who say:
“But I only paid $15 before.”
And they will be right. They probably did.
The general public isn’t necessarily following new California notary legislation. Most customers aren’t sitting at home reading amendments to Government Code Section 8211 over breakfast.
That is our job.
I plan to have information about the new fee structure readily available so that if someone questions the increase, I can explain that the maximum fee changed under California law on January 1, 2027.
There is no need to argue with a customer about it.
Simply explain the new maximum and remember that you are still responsible for deciding what you charge within the legal limits.
Shipping stores and other businesses offering notary services are likely to review their pricing too. How individual businesses decide to inform customers about those changes will be up to them.
For independent notaries, I think being upfront is the simplest approach.
The additional $5 becomes more meaningful when you look at it across multiple notarized signatures and multiple appointments.
For example, suppose two signers each need one acknowledgment.
Through December 31, 2026, the maximum notarial fees for those two acknowledgment signatures would total $30.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the maximum becomes $40.
That’s a $10 difference from a single appointment.
Now multiply that across several appointments a day or dozens of appointments over a month.
That doesn’t mean every notary is suddenly going to make substantially more money. Appointment volume, competition, travel time, expenses and the type of work you perform all matter.
But for an established mobile notary who stays busy, the increase should provide at least a little more breathing room against operating expenses.
This is where things get a little more interesting.
From my experience, the law firms I work with have always been very clear with their customers. If the client chooses to use me as the firm’s recommended mobile notary, my services are separate from the law office and my fee is due upon completion of the appointment.
Signing services are another story.
A Notary Signing Agent works differently from a general Notary Public. Signing agents may be handling large loan packages involving printing, travel, multiple signatures, multiple notarizations, document review, scanbacks and returning completed documents.
When a signing service hires the notary, it offers a total amount for completing that assignment.
And I would not automatically assume those offers are going to jump just because California’s statutory notarial fees increase.
Over the last several years, my experience has been that many signing-service offers have either stayed flat or actually gone down, even while everything from gasoline to paper has become more expensive.
My recommendation to California Notary Signing Agents is simple:
Know what the assignment is actually worth before you click “accept.”
Look at:
If the fee doesn’t make sense, don’t be afraid to counter.
And when you submit a counteroffer, include a brief explanation. A reasonable counter based on distance, package size, number of notarizations or special requirements is much easier to justify than simply typing a higher number and hoping somebody approves it.
The increase under AB 1597 is also another good reason for signing agents to pay attention to how many actual notarizations are included in a package.
There is no need to wait until New Year’s Day and then start scrambling around changing everything.
Before the new California notary fees take effect:
A little preparation now will make January considerably easier.
Beginning January 1, 2027, a California Notary Public may charge up to $20 for each signature taken for an acknowledgment and up to $20 for administering an oath or affirmation to one person and executing a jurat. Other maximum fees also increase under AB 1597.
The new maximum fees take effect January 1, 2027. Until then, the current $15 maximum continues to apply to common acknowledgments and jurats.
No. The $20 amount is the maximum allowable fee, not a mandatory fee. A California notary may charge less when permitted.
Not necessarily. For an acknowledgment or proof of a deed or other instrument, Government Code Section 8211 allows up to $20 for each signature taken beginning in 2027.
Yes. AB 1597 increases the maximum amount a notary may charge; it does not require notaries to charge the maximum.
The maximum fee will be $20 for administering an oath or affirmation to one person and executing the jurat, including the seal.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the maximum fee for certifying a copy of a power of attorney under California Probate Code Section 4307 will be $20.
California’s statutory fee schedule regulates specified notarial acts. Mobile notaries may separately charge legitimate non-notarial services such as travel when appropriately disclosed and agreed upon. The notarial portion of the fee must remain within the statutory limit.
Not necessarily. Signing-service assignments typically include much more than the notarial acts themselves, and the total assignment fee is generally negotiated with the hiring company. Signing agents should evaluate each offer based on the amount of work required.
Five dollars may not sound earth-shattering, but after years of watching the cost of virtually everything involved in running a notary business increase, I’ll take it.
AB 1597 finally gives California Notaries Public some additional room in what we can legally charge for our services.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the maximum for common acknowledgments and jurats increases to $20, along with increases for power-of-attorney copy certifications and deposition-related services.
For active notaries, now is the time to review pricing, inform regular clients and make sure that any published fee schedules are ready for the change.
And for signing agents, I would pay especially close attention to those package offers. Just because the legal maximum is going up doesn’t mean a signing service is automatically going to volunteer more money.
Sometimes you still have to ask.
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