State notary law guide
California
Guide liveEvery claim below carries its citation and the source it was checked against. Sections still in verification say so rather than guess.
Fees
3 verified facts$15 per signature is the maximum a notary may charge.
This is a ceiling, not a set price — a notary may charge less, or nothing at all. For an acknowledgment it is counted per signature taken, and for a jurat per person sworn, so one document signed by two people can carry two fees. Depositions have their own maximums, and travel is a separate charge.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8211Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Travel fees are not capped by statute, and the Secretary of State's handbook says they should be identified separately in the journal.
The statutory maximums cover the notarial services themselves. Travel is not one of the services the fee statute prices, so it is a separate charge; the handbook says it should be identified separately from the notarial fee in the journal.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8211 (travel is not a listed service); CA Notary Public Handbook (2026), journal entriesCross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
No fee may be charged to a U.S. military veteran for notarizing an application or claim for a veteran's benefit, or to anyone for notarizing signatures on vote-by-mail ballot identification envelopes or other voting materials.
Both bind any notary. They are not the complete list: the handbook names narrower no-fee cases too, most of which turn on who the notary is rather than what the act is.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8211(d), (f); §6107Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Notarial acts
3 verified factsFor a jurat, the signer must sign the document in the notary's presence.
Signing in front of the notary is the jurat's rule. For an acknowledgment the signer must still appear in person, but the document can be signed beforehand.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8202Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
For an acknowledgment, the signer must personally appear before the notary, but the document can already be signed.
The notary certifies that the signer appeared, that their identity was proved by satisfactory evidence, and that they acknowledged signing — not that the document is true, accurate or valid. A document mailed or otherwise delivered without the signer appearing can't be acknowledged, even if the notary knows the signer.
§Cal. Civ. Code §1185(a); §1189(a)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
A notary can certify a copy of a power of attorney — but never a birth, death or marriage certificate.
Vital records can only be copied by the State Registrar, local registrars and county recorders. That covers notarizing one as well as certifying it. The notary's own journal is the only other copy a California notary certifies.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8205(a)(4); Prob. Code §4307; Health & Saf. Code §103545Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Signer ID
2 verified factsA signer without acceptable ID can be identified through the sworn statements of credible witnesses.
One witness must be personally known to the notary; with two, neither needs to be. Each witness shows their own acceptable ID and swears or affirms that the signer is the person named in the document and is personally known to them, that the signer has none of the accepted IDs, that they reasonably believe the signer would find it very difficult or impossible to get one, and that they have no financial interest in the document and are not named in it. Whether the conditions are met is the notary's call.
§Cal. Civ. Code §1185(b)(1), (b)(2)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
A California driver's license or ID card, a U.S. passport, or another ID on the statute's list can be accepted if it is current or was issued within the past five years.
The statute lists them: a California DMV license or ID card, a U.S. passport, and an inmate ID issued by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or by a sheriff's department for someone in custody; and, if it shows a photo, a description and a signature and bears a serial or other identifying number, a driver's license from another state or from Canada or Mexico, another state's ID card, a U.S. military ID, an employee ID from the State of California or a California city or county, an ID from a federally recognized tribe, or a valid passport or consular ID from the signer's country of citizenship. An expired document isn't automatically disqualified if it was issued within the past five years, but a foreign passport or consular ID must also be valid.
§Cal. Civ. Code §1185(b)(3), (b)(4)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Journal & seal
3 verified factsDeeds, deeds of trust and other documents affecting real property, and powers of attorney, require the signer's thumbprint in the journal.
The right thumb by default; if it isn't available, the left thumb or any available finger, noted in the journal. A signer physically unable to give a print has that noted, with an explanation. The thumbprint rule doesn't apply to a trustee's deed from a foreclosure or to a deed of reconveyance.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8206(a)(2)(G)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Every act goes in one active sequential journal, kept locked and under the notary's exclusive control.
Each entry records the date, time and type of act, the character of the document, the signer's signature, how they were identified, and the fee — including when the fee is nothing. Failing to secure the journal is itself grounds for action against the commission.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8206(a)(1), (a)(2)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Every California notary must have a seal, and it stays theirs even if an employer paid for it.
It's kept locked and under the notary's exclusive control, and can't be surrendered to an employer on leaving a job. It has to reproduce photographically, which is why nearly every California notary uses a rubber stamp; an embosser may be used as well, not instead.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8207Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Online (RON)
1 verified factCalifornia signers may use online notaries commissioned in other states.
California's own remote online notarization won't operate until the Secretary of State certifies its technology. Until then, online notarizations performed by notaries in other states are recognized here.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8232.1Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Apostille
2 verified factsApostilles are issued by the California Secretary of State.
The notary handles the notarization. The apostille itself comes from the Secretary of State's office.
§CA Secretary of StateCross-checked · CA Secretary of State, Request an Apostille
An apostille costs $20 per document from the Secretary of State, separate from anything the notary charged.
In person there's also a $6 handling fee for each different public official's signature. The notary's own fee is separate from both.
§California Secretary of StateCross-checked · CA SOS Apostille FAQs (worked fee examples)
Becoming a notary
9 verified factsYou must be 18, a California resident, complete a six-hour course approved by the Secretary of State, and pass the state exam.
The course only counts if the Secretary of State approved that vendor. After the commission issues you have 30 days to file the oath and a $15,000 bond with your county clerk — until then it isn't in effect.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8201(a); §8204; §8212; §8213(a)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
A California commission runs four years from the date written in the commission itself.
Not four years from the day you're sworn in: the 30 days you have to file the oath and bond come out of the term rather than on top of it. Renewal isn't a lighter process either — you take the full six-hour approved course again unless you already hold a current commission and have completed it before.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8204Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
Every notary applicant is fingerprinted via Live Scan for a DOJ and FBI background check before the commission is granted.
The check runs before appointment, not after — the Secretary of State reviews convictions against its published disqualification guidelines, and disclosure on the application is mandatory. Fingerprints must be taken within one year of the exam date.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8201.1(a)–(c)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
California requires every notary to file an official bond of $15,000.
The bond protects the public, not the notary — if a notary's error costs someone money, the surety pays and then collects from the notary. That is why working notaries also carry E&O insurance, which is optional and does protect the notary. The statute sets the bond's face value; what an applicant pays a surety for it is a market price.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8212Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
You have 30 calendar days from the start of your commission term to file your oath and $15,000 bond with the county clerk — until then the commission has no effect, and if you miss the window it isn't valid.
The handbook is explicit that no exceptions are made — not for mail delays, not for county processing time. The filing happens in the county of your principal place of business, and the county's filing fee varies; California doesn't set one statewide number.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8213(a)Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
The state's own fees are $20 for the exam and $20 to process the application — $40 the first time, $20 for a retake.
Paid at the exam site, check or money order only. This is what the state charges; the course, bond premium and supplies are separate market prices set by vendors, not by California.
§2 CCR §20802; 2 CCR §20803Cross-checked · SOS Forms, Services, and Fees page
Fingerprinting costs $51 in state processing fees — $32 DOJ and $19 FBI — plus a rolling fee the Live Scan site sets itself.
The rolling fee has no citable number: each Live Scan operator sets its own, and the Secretary of State says to call the site and ask. Any rolling-fee range you see quoted is a market observation, not a state fee.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8201.1(f); amounts published by the Secretary of StateCross-checked · SOS background-check page + SOS notary fingerprint checklist
California sets no earliest date to apply for reappointment — the Secretary of State advises taking the exam at least six months out, and won't send the new commission more than 30 days before the old one ends.
Six months is advice about queues, not a window that opens. You may start any time, and starting early doesn't lengthen anything — the new term runs from the date in the new commission, so an early renewal buys a clean handover, not extra time.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8204; CA SOS Notary Public FAQs (Q13, Q14)Cross-checked · CA SOS notary checklist, Await Commission Packet
Apply for reappointment before your commission expires and you take a three-hour refresher course; let it expire first and it's the full six-hour course again.
The refresher also requires that you hold a current commission and have completed the approved six-hour course at least once before. All three conditions have to hold — the deadline alone isn't enough.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8201(b)(2)Cross-checked · CA SOS notary checklist, Complete Approved Education
Complaints
1 verified factComplaints about a California notary's performance of their duties are submitted to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State disciplines notaries — it can't recover your money or undo a document. Fraud or forgery goes to local law enforcement or the district attorney instead.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8214.1; §8220Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook; CA SOS complaint process
Straight answer · What these guides are
Reference, not legal advice.
These guides explain how notarization works: the fees, the acts, the process. They won't tell you which document your situation needs, and neither will any notary. Notaries public are not attorneys and cannot give legal or immigration advice. For that, talk to a lawyer.
The same rule that governs our directory governs these pages: we publish what the state publishes, cite it, and stop there.