Professional Notary Public Services in California
Licensed, Bonded & Insured Mobile and Online Notary Services
Professional notary services throughout the Golden State Our certified notaries provide same-day mobile notary services throughout California.
About Notary Services in California
How California commissions and trains its notaries
California runs one of the most rigorous notary regimes in the country. New applicants complete a six-hour course of study approved by the Secretary of State, pass a written examination on California notary law, and submit Live Scan fingerprints for a federal and state background check. After that, they post a $15,000 surety bond from an admitted surety insurer and file the bond plus an oath of office with the county clerk in their principal place of business within 30 calendar days of the commission start date. The commission term runs four years (Cal. Gov. Code § 8204). On top of all that, California is one of the few states that requires every notary to keep a sequential journal of every notarial act, and one of fewer still that requires the signer's right thumbprint in the journal for deeds, deeds of trust, quitclaim deeds, and powers of attorney. The result is a notary corps that knows California law cold and leaves a paper trail for every signature.
Where notaries work in California
California's notary market is the largest in the country, and the geography matters. Los Angeles County alone runs entertainment industry contracts (talent agreements, deal memos, production company formations), real estate volume across DTLA, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Long Beach, and the Westside, and the immigration document load that flows through the LA Field Office. The Bay Area generates a different mix: founder agreements and ESOP grants in Palo Alto and Mountain View, IPO-related signings in SoMa, employment paperwork in San Jose and Cupertino, and the residential refinance volume that picks up every time rates move. San Diego biotech and military communities push their own steady stream through La Jolla, Carmel Valley, and the corridor down to Coronado. Sacramento drives state-government and lobbyist work. The Central Valley (Fresno, Bakersfield, Modesto, Stockton, Visalia) sees agricultural land transfers, water rights documents, and the kind of closing volume that doesn't make headlines. For house closings in Beverly Hills, Pacific Heights, La Jolla, or Folsom, the title company will usually send a notary for the closing itself. Everything else around the deal (refinances where you pick the notary, FSBOs, POAs for absent buyers, quitclaim deeds, lease assignments) routes through this directory.
Remote online notarization in California
California is the country's last major holdout on remote online notarization. Senate Bill 696, signed by Governor Newsom on September 30, 2023, authorizes RON through the Online Notarization Act, but the bulk of the bill becomes operative only when the Secretary of State adopts implementing rules and finishes a technology project. Statutory backstop deadline: January 1, 2030. As of mid-2026, that work is not done. California-commissioned notaries cannot yet perform RON, and Cal. Gov. Code § 8231.2 explicitly prohibits it until the rule-making concludes. Some out-of-state RON platforms accept California-located signers under another state's commission, but the receiving party has to accept a non-California notarial certificate. For most California signers, that's a complication, not a solution. The practical answer right now is in-person mobile notarization, which is what most of California's notary capacity is set up to deliver.
What notaries can charge in California
The fee schedule is plain and capped by statute. Acknowledgments and proofs of deed run fifteen dollars per signature (Cal. Gov. Code § 8211(a)). Jurats including the oath and signature run the same: fifteen dollars (§ 8211(b)). Certifying a copy of a power of attorney is also fifteen dollars, and that is the only document type a California notary can certify a copy of (§ 8211(e), referencing Cal. Probate Code § 4307). Depositions run thirty dollars base plus seven for the oath and seven for the certificate. Vote-by-mail ballot identification envelopes get notarized at no charge (§ 8211(d)). Notarizations for U.S. military veterans on pension or benefit applications are also free (§ 8211(f), Cal. Gov. Code § 6107). Travel for a mobile notary is negotiated separately and has to be agreed to in writing before the notary leaves. Anything beyond those numbers, you can decline.
What this page covers
This page covers what California requires of its notaries, what you'll actually pay, the documents California notaries can and cannot handle, and the questions Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, Fresno, Long Beach, and Oakland residents ask before booking. Use the directory below to filter notaries by city, ZIP, and capability.
Notary Services in California
State Regulations
California requires notaries to be commissioned by the Secretary of State and maintain a $15,000 surety bond.
Average Pricing
Notary services in California typically range from $25-$75 for a typical mobile appointment including travel.
Service Features
- Mobile notary services available statewide
- International apostille document pipeline
- Real estate transaction specialists
- Loan signing agents available
- Multi-language notaries
California Notary Requirements
Statutory requirements for becoming and operating as a notary public in California.
Commission Term
4 years
Renewal required before expiration. Recommissioning application opens up to 10 weeks before the term ends.
Surety Bond
$15,000
Bond posted with the California Secretary of State, Notary Public Section.
Training & Exam
Required
Six-hour course of study approved by the Secretary of State for first-time applicants (Cal. Gov. Code § 8201(a)(3)). Three-hour refresher course for reappointment when the prior commission has not lapsed (Cal. Gov. Code § 8201(b)(2)). Written examination prescribed by the Secretary of State based on California notary law (Cal. Gov. Code § 8201(a)(4)). Live Scan fingerprinting and a federal and state background check are also required prior to commissioning (Cal. Gov. Code § 8201.1).
Minimum Age
18+
Residency
State resident required
California commissions are limited to legal residents of the state.
Remote Online Notarization
Not currently authorized
Senate Bill 696 (signed September 30, 2023) authorizes California remote online notarization through the Online Notarization Act, but California-commissioned notaries cannot yet perform RON. Some framework provisions are operative (Cal. Gov. Code §§ 8232 through 8232.4 since January 1, 2024, and § 8231.18 since January 1, 2025), but Cal. Gov. Code § 8231.2 prohibits California RON until the Secretary of State adopts implementing rules and completes a technology project. Statutory backstop deadline is January 1, 2030. Out-of-state notaries commissioned in RON-active states sometimes accept California-located signers under their own state’s rules, but California-commissioned RON is not yet operational as of mid-2026.
Source: California Secretary of State, Notary Public Section. Last verified 2026-05-14.
California Notary Fee Schedule
Statutory maximum fees for notarial acts performed in California.
| Notarial Act | Maximum Fee |
|---|---|
| Acknowledgment, verification, or proof (paper) | $15.00 per signature |
| Jurat (paper) | $15.00 per signature |
| Certified copy | $15.00 |
Per Cal. Gov. Code § 8211, statutory maximums are $15 per signature for acknowledgments and proofs of deed, $15 for a jurat (oath plus signature), and $15 for certifying a copy of a power of attorney. California notaries can certify copies of powers of attorney only (Cal. Probate Code § 4307) and cannot certify copies of birth certificates, marriage licenses, diplomas, or other vital records. Deposition services are $30 base plus $7 for the oath and $7 for the certificate (§ 8211(c)). No fee may be charged to notarize a vote-by-mail ballot identification envelope or other voting materials (§ 8211(d)). No fee may be charged to a U.S. military veteran for notarization of a pension or benefit application (§ 8211(f), Cal. Gov. Code § 6107). Travel fees for mobile notarization are negotiated separately and must be agreed to in writing before the notary leaves.
Statutory maximums set by California. Travel and convenience fees may apply for mobile services and are negotiated separately between the notary and the signer.
Documents Commonly Notarized in California
The document types that drive most California notary appointments, with practical notes on what to expect.
Powers of Attorney
California powers of attorney under the Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney Act (Cal. Probate Code § 4400 et seq.) require notarization. The signer's right thumbprint goes in the notary's journal under Cal. Gov. Code § 8206(a)(2)(G). California is also one of the only states that lets a notary issue a certified copy of a power of attorney (§ 8211(e)). Bring the original POA, your photo ID, and an unsigned copy of the document if you want a certified copy.
Real Estate Closing Packages and Deeds
Grant deeds, quitclaim deeds, deeds of trust, and full closing packages all require notarization with the signer's right thumbprint (Cal. Gov. Code § 8206(a)(2)(G)). LA County, the Bay Area peninsula, and the San Diego corridor see the heaviest closing volume in California. Mobile notaries cover most buyer-side and seller-side signings outside the title-company-arranged closing itself. Trustee's deeds resulting from foreclosure and deeds of reconveyance are exempt from the thumbprint rule.
Loan Signings and Refinance Packages
Refinances, HELOCs, reverse mortgages, and purchase closings make up steady California signing-agent work. The directory has notaries with active loan signing experience across LA County, Orange County, the Bay Area, and Sacramento, plus full-time mobile notaries who run packages in San Diego, Fresno, Bakersfield, and the Inland Empire. Most California loan signing agents handle 100+ packages a year.
California Advance Health Care Directives
California's statutory Advance Health Care Directive, prescribed under the California Health Care Decisions Act, requires either two qualified witnesses or notarization. Most signers choose notarization. The notary watches the signer execute the form and verifies the signer's identity through approved photo ID. A POLST form (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) is a separate document and does not require notarization.
Small Estate Affidavits and Probate-Related Documents
California's small estate affidavit procedure under Cal. Probate Code § 13100 lets heirs collect a decedent's California real and personal property without formal probate when the gross value falls below $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (the threshold updates every three years using a CPI formula). The affidavit requires notarization, and at least 40 days must have passed since the date of death.
Apostille and Document Authentication
California's Secretary of State runs one of the busiest apostille offices in the country, especially for documents going to Mexico, China, India, the Philippines, Brazil, and the EU. The notarization comes first. The apostille is then issued by the SOS Notary Public Section to certify that the underlying notarial signature is authentic. International adoptions, foreign business registrations, and overseas property transactions all route through this pipeline.
Living Trusts and Trust Amendments
California is one of the heaviest living-trust states in the country, driven by probate avoidance and the cost of California real estate. Trust documents (the original trust instrument and any later amendment or restatement) require the trustor's notarized signature. POAs related to trust administration also require notarization with the signer's thumbprint. Many California signers handle trust funding (transferring real property into the trust) at the same appointment as the trust signing itself.
Vehicle Title Transfers
California's DMV does not require notarization for routine vehicle title transfers, which is different from many other states. Notarization shows up on a few specific DMV forms (some power-of-attorney variants, certain salvage and out-of-state filings). If a DMV form has a notary line on it, bring it unsigned. The notary will witness the signature and capture the journal entry.
Immigration-Related Documents
Affidavits of support, consular notarial cover sheets, and translations of vital records often need notarization in California. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego carry the heaviest immigration document volume. California notaries cannot give immigration legal advice. The term notario público has a specific meaning in California: most California notaries are not attorneys, and California's notary advertising rules tightly restrict what a notary may advertise about immigration assistance.
I-9 Employment Verification (Authorized Representative)
Remote new hires sometimes need a notary to act as the employer's Authorized Representative for Section 2 of Form I-9. California notaries can do this, but it is not technically a notarial act under California law. Follow USCIS guidance on completion. The notary's journal entry serves as record-keeping, not as a Cal. Gov. Code § 8205 act.
How to Find a Notary in California
Finding a notary in California comes down to two things: what you're signing and how soon you need it. For nearly every California signer in 2026, the answer is a mobile notary at your location, booked through this directory. Remote online notarization is authorized in California statute but not yet operational for California-commissioned notaries. A few specific cases route differently. Most of those don't apply to most signers.
Mobile notaries are the workhorse of the California directory. Book one and they come to you: your home, your office, a hotel in DTLA, a coffee shop in Palo Alto, a hospital room at Cedars-Sinai or UCLA Medical Center, an assisted-living facility in Pasadena, a closing table at a kitchen island in Carmel Valley, a co-working space in SoMa. California mobile notaries on this directory work nights, early mornings, and weekends. No account opening, no membership, no waiting until banking hours. Need a power of attorney notarized at your parent's nursing home in Pasadena at 7pm? That's the use case. Refinance signing in Beverly Hills or Palo Alto at 8am before work? Also that. FSBO closing in Carmel Valley on a Saturday because the buyer is wiring funds Monday morning? Book it the same day. Same-day quitclaim in Oakland or Long Beach because escrow needs the recorded copy by Friday? Same answer. Filter the directory by city, ZIP, and capability to find one near you.
Online notarization gets a lot of search traffic in California, so it's worth being clear about the current state of things. California-commissioned notaries cannot perform RON yet. Senate Bill 696 authorized it back in 2023, but the Secretary of State is still working through the rule-making and technology build, with a statutory backstop deadline of January 1, 2030. Some out-of-state RON platforms accept signers physically located in California, operating under their own state's commission. That sometimes works for documents the receiving party will accept with a non-California notarial certificate. It does not work for documents that have to be recorded with a California county recorder, where the recorder will reject anything that isn't a California notarial act. If you've been told you need a California notarization, you need an in-person California notary. Book one through this directory.
Real estate is the special case worth calling out. If you're closing on a purchase or sale through a title company, the title company will usually arrange the notary for the closing itself. Everything else in real estate, you source. Refinances where you pick the notary instead of the lender's vendor. FSBO closings. POA executions when one buyer or seller can't be at the table. Quitclaim deeds between family members or for trust funding. Lease assignments. Trust amendments. The directory has notaries with active loan signing experience in LA County, Orange County, the Bay Area peninsula, and the San Diego corridor, plus mobile notaries who run loan packages routinely outside the major metros.
One last option to mention. Some California institutions provide in-branch notary as an account-holder courtesy. That works when you have a single document, are an account holder in good standing, can wait until banking hours, and live close enough to a branch that has a commissioned notary on staff that day. That's a narrow set of conditions. Outside it (multi-document signings, after-hours, non-account-holders, anyone who can't easily travel, anything mobile, anything time-sensitive), this directory is the right tool.
California notaries on this directory are commissioned by the Secretary of State, bonded at $15,000, capped at $15 per signature under Cal. Gov. Code § 8211, and required by law to keep a sequential journal of every act they perform. Most California signings booked through the directory get done the same day.
California Notary FAQs
Answers to the questions California residents most often ask before booking a notary.
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