Posted by FlaGal on 11/6/08 10:25pm
Msg #269181

How much would you charge in Florida

My friend is suppose to do notarize a medical document for a doctor tomorrow that will not be able to attend court. She said that she will be sitting down on a two hour statement being given by this doctor. She needs to know how much would she need to charge to notarize this doctor's statement for the court?

She is located in Tallahassee, Florida.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 11/6/08 10:29pm
Msg #269182

Are you sure she has to sit in and isn't just identifying them and swearing them in for the teleconference?

Reply by FlaGal on 11/6/08 10:36pm
Msg #269184

How much would you charge in Florida

She said she has to go to the Dr. office and sit there for two hours and notarize a statement saying that it was the Dr.giving the statement so that it would be presented in court. I have never heard of this before. I guess she will have the tape of the Dr. recorded statement and then an sworn statement saying that it was the Dr.giving the statement and from there she will deliver it to court house to present it to the judge.

The only thing I could find is the normal $10 fee.

Thanks for responding so quickly.

Reply by jba/fl on 11/6/08 11:24pm
Msg #269193

She can charge for travel and wait time as long as she discloses up front, ie: My fee is $10 per notariation, $X to travel and $Y per hour expense (office, wait, service, etc, however she wants to word it. MUST be up-front and agreed upon, statement/invoice should reflect as well)

From p. 9 Governor's Reference manual: "Fees are optional. Be reasonable when setting fees. If you charge fees for other services not directly related to your notary services, you should provide your customer with an itemized list of charges beforehand."

I would argue that the wait time is not directly related to the notary services per se. Think of the plumber: $90 per hour or portion thereof for labor, all parts separate, fuel surcharge added based upon mileage.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 11/6/08 11:37pm
Msg #269194

Sounds like a deposition to me...

But it also sounds like some of what she is being asked to do it is outside Florida notary law. See pages 13-14 of your reference manual:

http://www.flgov.com/pdfs/ref_manual11-22.pdf


I looked that up because in CA we're apparently allowed to take depositions... though there isn't much in the handbook about it, and I don't know of any notaries that have actually done one. It's an interesting concept.

But for Florida...it seems to be clearly outside of what a notary is allowed to do, and the reference guide cites a case about it, too.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 11/6/08 11:40pm
Msg #269195

Unless...

If she's not taking the actual deposition, just certifying the identity of the deposed while someone else take the deposition (like an attorney!), and all she's doing is waiting around then "running an errand" o the courthouse... then that makes some amount of sense.

But if they want her to actually record the deposition, from what I read that's a big no-no.

Reply by FlaGal on 11/7/08 5:21am
Msg #269199

Thank you all so much

Thank you all so much for responding to my questions. I will let her know this morning.