Remote notarization fees by state

Every state on file, at a glance

Four ways a state caps the fee

Read the rules side by side and they fall into four shapes. In Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Washington one figure is the whole fee for a remote act. In Texas and Pennsylvania the remote fee is added to the regular fee the act already carries, so a remote acknowledgment costs the client both. Missouri counts per signature and allows a separate transaction fee the client agrees to in advance. Maine, Kansas and Louisiana set no dollar figure at all.

Texas: the online fee sits on top

Texas is the clearest case of a stacked fee. The online fee is its own line, and the statute says in so many words that it comes in addition to the regular schedule:

The rest of the Texas path, from the digital certificate to 5 years of records, is in Texas online notary requirements.

Pennsylvania: a technology fee and an itemized receipt

Pennsylvania's regular fees are small and set by the Department of State, and the remote fee of up to $20 an act goes on top. Two more lines on the Department's fee page change how you bill: a notary who charges fees must give an itemized receipt for all of them, and a clerical or administrative fee is allowed but not set by the Department, and the customer should be told about it before the notarization.

The approved-platform list and the rest of the state's rules are on the Pennsylvania page.

No dollar cap is not no rule

Where a state sets no figure, it sets conditions, and they are the part notaries skip. Each one below is the rule as we read it, with its source:

KS

No dollar amount is set; a fee may be charged if disclosed as permitted but not required by law, agreed before the act, collected at the time and recorded in the journal. K.A.R. 7-43-16

LA

Louisiana has no statutory fee schedule that sets or limits what a notary may charge. Secretary of State notary FAQ

ME

The rule sets no dollar cap; any fee must be disclosed in writing and agreed by the individual before the notarial act. 29-250 C.M.R. ch. 700, § 2

MO

Maximum $5 per signature for an acknowledgment, jurat or signature witnessing, plus a separate remote online transaction fee if agreed in advance and explained as not set by law; the statute sets no cap on that transaction fee. RSMo §§ 486.960(2), 486.1160

Kansas and Missouri publish more about the remote act itself on their own pages: Kansas, Missouri.

What the cap does not cover

A fee cap governs the notary's fee for the notarial act. It says nothing about what a platform charges you to run the session, and that price never belongs on your client's invoice as a notarial fee. Two of the rules say outright where the edge sits:

• FLUp to $25 per online notarial act. Fees for other services, including the RON service provider's, are not governed by this cap and may be charged separately. § 117.275, Fla. Stat.
• VAUp to $25 for an electronic notarial act; actual travel expenses only by agreement. Va. Code § 47.1-19(B), (D)

Fig. 2

Anything else you charge, such as a printing or scheduling charge or a signing-agent fee from a title company, is not a notarial fee, and whether your state lets you add it, and how you must disclose it, is a separate question in your state's rule. Keep it on its own line. That split also matters at tax time: the IRS Schedule SE instructions exempt fees for services performed as a notary public from self-employment tax, and the notary session fee ledger keeps the two apart over a year.