A notary public is an individual commissioned by the Secretary of State to perform a notarial act and is a considered a “public ministerial officer” who is an impartial agent of the state commissioned to witness notarial writings and signatures. One of the main responsibilities of a public notary is to confirm the identity of the signer of a document through personal knowledge, a credible witness and/or identification card or papers. Also, notaries public ensure the signer is under his/her own free will, and there to witness the actual signing. The overall purpose of the notary public is fraud prevention in document signatures and certification.

A quick search online for ‘notary services near me’ or ‘public notary near me’ will yield a variety of sources for notary public services in your area. Sites like Yelp and Yellow Pages will usually have a list of local notaries nearby your current GPS location. You can also filter by those that are open now. Notaries public with physical locations will often have set office hours; however, mobile notaries that travel to clients are often open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including Sundays and some holidays (this is the case with VIP Notary Services in Santa Monica). You can also use Google Maps and search your current area for reputable service providers. Another way is to reference notary directories and notary organizations and search their databases. These sites include:

• 123notary.com
• notaryrotary.com
• snapdocs.com
• usnotaries.net
• National Notary Association
• American Society of Notaries

Lastly, you can acces the current list of active notary commission holders from the respective secretary of state. For instance, for California notary public officers, you can go to the CA Secretary of State website at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/notary-public-listing/.

There are some set notary public fees as set forth by each state. “Government Code section 8211 specifies the maximum fees that may be charged for notary public services. However, a notary public may decide to charge no fee or an amount that is less than the maximum amount prescribed by law.” Therefore, the cost of notary services may vary, but for the actions below, there is a maximum fee associated with each type. So, the range could be from free notary public services with $0 as the fee to those listed here. However, serices other than those listed from the notary handbook of CA below may have varying prices. [Source: http://notary.cdn.sos.ca.gov/forms/notary-handbook-2017.pdf] The mandated maximum fee schedule / cost / prices for notary services in 2017 by the state of California are as follows:

Notary signing fees for loan documents, Apostle services, or traveling notary fees, for example, will vary depending on the public notary you contact. Additional fees usually apply in these situations due to complexity of the document notarization process and/or time in transit.

Notoring a document or signature entails a few similar details, but will depend on your specific notarization act. For the most widely performed notary public services, you will bring the documents to be notarized to the notary (or a mobile notary will travel to you) and the commissioned public notary will: Verify the identity of the signers, confirm that the signers understand what they are signing / signing under their own free will, witness the signature(s), log the notarization act in the notary journal book; and complete a notarial certificate. In some cases, an oath or affirmation is required.

An individual commissioned by the state is can notarize signatures and documents and perform notarizing acts as set forth by the secretary of state of their repsective state.

When notarizing a document, use the county in which the notarization is taking place (where the person/person(s) are/is present for signing. Although a public notary may have taken the oath in a specific county and their respective notary seal states a specific county, a notary public agent can perform notarization services anywhere in the state that the commission was obtained in. Therefore, they can notarize documents in any county in the state where they have a valid license to do so.

An Apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origins of a public document and can only be issued for documents is one country party to the Apostille Convetion for use in another country who is also a party to the Hague Convention. “The California Secretary of State provides authentication of public official signatures on documents to be used outside the United States of America. An Authentication Certificate only certifies the authenticity of the signature of the official who signed the document, the capacity in which that official acted, and when appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which the document bears. The Authentication Certificate does not validate the other contents of the document.” Common Apostille documents include, but not limited to: company bylaws and articles of incorporation, power of attorney, diplomas, transcripts, letters relating to degrees, marital status, references and job certifications, home studies, deeds of assignments, distributorship agreements, papers for adoption purposes,… [Source: http://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/authentication/ / https://assets.hcch.net/upload/abc12e.pdf]

Authentication requests can be presented in person to the Sacramento (also by mail) or Los Angeles office locations for California Apostille services. For in-person Apostille requests, no appointment is necessary and customers are served on a “first come first serve” basis.

The requirements to become a notary public may differ from state to state; however, most will require that you are: 18 years of age; a legal state resident; must read, write and understand English; and not convicted of felony or crime of moral turpitude that hasn’t been dismissed/discharged by law. The process of becoming a public notary usually involves the following steps (the example below is for the state of California from the office of the Secretary of State of California):

• Complete Approved Education
• Complete the registration application
• Register / take / pass the Exam
• Submit Fingerprints via Live Scan
• Await Commission Packet
• Purchase Notary Public Materials
• File Notary Public Oath & Bond

[Source: http://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/checklist/]

Yes, notary classes are required to become a public notary. Specifically, in California, a six hour course of study from an approved vendor is required. Once the notary public classes are completed, the proof of completion should be attached to the registration form and accompanied with the applicant to the notary exam. There is most likely an approved notary public class offerred nearby locally, but if you’d rather fulfill the requirement on the internet, there are online notary classes available. The prices for these courses will vary. Some companies advertise free online notary courses, but usually this is for a physicall course manual or other product that is in addition to the actual 6-hour course.

Additionally, there is a 3 hour course, but this is for renewing public notaries that have an existing current notary commission that has not expired. These are sometimes referred to as refresher courses. If a commission has expired, a notary public agent cannot take th 3-hour course and must instead take the regular 6 hour course.

For a current list of notary public course vendors, refer to your respective secretary of state’s office [CA: http://notaryeducation.sos.ca.gov/Default.aspx]

A notary bond or notary public surety bond is designed only to provide a limited source of funds for paying claims against the notary public. For example, California law requires every notary public to file an official bond in the amount of $15,000 prior to being able to receive the notary license commission to perform notarization services. The amount and rules regarding notary bonds will differ from state to state. One added detail for California notary publics is that the surety bond must cover all 4 years that the commission is valid. (Government Code sections 8212 to 8214).

There are several notary supplies that are usually used in notarizing a document. The most widely known is the notary stamp. The notary public stamp has the state notary seal which features a few different pieces of information that will vary by state. This can include name of the public notary, commission number, state name, county name, and the expiration date of the respective commission. Some notaries will also use a notary embosser to affix their notary seal to the document to be notarized to further prevent possibilities of fraud. These notary seals are used in conjunction with the traditional ink stamps due to the fact that the are not photographically reproducible like the ink types; and being photographically reproducible is important for mail in documents. A notary embosser is a metal device that has a clamping mechanism to make raised imprint of the notary public’s commission information.

A notary journal book is another of the notary supplies that you will see when employing a notary public to provide notarization services on documents and letters. The notary journal is used to record notary acts. This helps to protect against misconduct claims. Some journals come with a privacy guard to protect sensitive information from others that are signing an entry on the same page. Notary book journals are sold many places locally and online and are usually made via sewn-construction to prolong its life.

With all these notary supplies, a notary public can legal perform the duties of a notary set forth by the state issuing the commission. Besides the notary public stamp and journal, a non-physical item that is require of notaries is a notary public bond. The amount will vary by state. Also known as a Notary surety bond, in CA it is required to have it for the entire 4 year commission term. The purpose of the bond is to protect the public against financial loss due to improper conduct by a notary.