A notary public, often simply called a notary, is a public officer commissioned by the court in their state or county. Notaries serve as an impartial witness to validating, screening, and authenticating the signing of important documents. They deter fraud by establishing that the signer understands what they’re signing and is a willing participant. Common types of documents requiring a notary’s signature are deeds, wills, power of attorneys, medical health directives, jurats, and acknowledgements.
Notary Publics are commonly employed at places like courts, financial institutions and hospitals. Usually, it is a requirement as an additional duty within their job description. But, in recent years these employees have maximized their earning potential by becoming part-time mobile notaries to earn extra income. Some have ventured out full-time and created businesses as professional mobile notaries. A mobile notary is a notary who travels to the customer to notarize legal documents. Mobile notaries can charge a travel fee for distance or time traveled to the location in addition to the state fee schedule for the notarial act.
General notaries must remain knowledgeable of current state laws when charging for travel fees and each notarial act. Notaries may charge any fee (or none) up to the maximum allowed under their state fee schedule (National Notary Association 2022). However, there are several states in which notary fees are not set by the law. Your state government and organizations like the National Notary Association are great resources when ensuring you are in compliance with the law. While many notaries look to larger income opportunities in loan signing for mortgages, most will find the majority of their work providing general notary services (Lewis, D. 2016).
Reference:
2023 notary fees by State. National Notary Association. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.nationalnotary.org/knowledge-center/about-notaries/notary-fees-by-state2023 Notary Fees By State | NNA (nationalnotary.org)
Daniel Lewis. (2016, October 20). Finding general notary work. National Notary Association. Retrieved May 19, 2023, from https://www.nationalnotary.org/notary-bulletin/blog/2016/10/finding-general-notary-work
