Posted by William Waddell on 12/23/04 1:56pm
Msg #14442

Fees

I just did my first notary service today. It was a Trust document that required notarized signatures on about 20 pages. I am not sure how to charge for my services, do I just charge $10 for each signature? Any suggestions?

Reply by CaliNotary on 12/23/04 2:27pm
Msg #14445

It depends on which state you're in, every state is different when it comes to what you can charge.

You already did the service but haven't been paid yet? Are you invoicing somebody? You really should have clarified your fees before doing the signing, if you send somebody a bill for $200 they might find it excessive and refuse to pay.

Reply by Anonymous on 12/23/04 6:50pm
Msg #14460

I am located in California. I did not know the size and required number of signatures until I was at the client.

Reply by Jon on 12/24/04 10:25am
Msg #14481

If you don't know how many signatures, you quote $10 per signature and $XX for travel.

Reply by CarolynCO on 12/23/04 2:29pm
Msg #14448

Where are you located William? You need to check with your SOS and see what the *allowable* charge is in your state and whether it is by signature or by document.

Reply by William Waddell on 12/23/04 6:48pm
Msg #14459

I am located in California.

Reply by JanetK/CA on 12/24/04 2:34am
Msg #14475

Yes, that is what California law allows. If you traveled to them, you are also allowed to charge a travel fee - they may not be too excited about paying it, though. I agree that in future you should confirm the amount in advance with your client. You also should be prepared to give them a receipt, if they request one. (That too, is a legal requirement.) At this point, you might just want to call your client to advise them you are preparing your invoice and want to confirm the amount. They might already be expecting to pay that much, or they might have used someone in the past who gave them a deal, or they might have used someone in-house who wasn't available, in which case they may not have a clue. It really depends on how you left it with them and what they are expecting. You might also want to be prepared to negotiate a bit if you want to do more business with them in the future.... How far you had to go and how long it took are other things to take into consideration.

Reply by Jon on 12/24/04 10:24am
Msg #14480

Remember that in CA, travel fees need to be disclosed in advance and agreed to by the client before making the trip. It sounds like $200 dollars would be plenty, and you can say that travel is usually $XX, but you are waiving the travel fee due to the amount of notarizations. They feel good that they got a break on travel, you feel good that you got $200.