On June 30, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1597, the California Notary Fee Modernization Act, into law — the first update to California's statutory notary fee caps in nearly a decade. For the state's roughly 137,000 commissioned notaries, and for the millions of Californians who rely on them every year, this is a significant shift in how notarial services are priced and valued.
Here's a plain-English breakdown of what AB 1597 actually does, how it got to the Governor's desk, and what it means going forward.
What AB 1597 Does
AB 1597 amends Government Code Section 8211, the law that sets the maximum fees a California notary public may legally charge for specific notarial acts. Rather than creating a new fee category or a general rate hike, the bill itemizes increases to the existing statutory ceilings for the most common notarial services:
- Acknowledgments and proofs: the per-signature cap rises from $15 to $20.
- Jurats (administering an oath or affirmation and executing the jurat, including the seal): also increases from $15 to $20.
- Depositions: the base fee for services connected to a deposition rises from $30 to $35, while the add-on charges for administering the witness oath and preparing the deposition certificate each increase from $7 to $12.
- Certifying a copy of a power of attorney under Probate Code Section 4307: increases from $15 to $20.
The bill also adds a short legislative findings section acknowledging that inflation and rising costs — supplies, travel, insurance, continuing education — have outpaced the fee structure notaries have operated under since the last adjustment. Importantly, this is a ceiling increase, not a mandate: notaries aren't required to charge the new maximums, but they now have the legal room to do so if their costs demand it.
What Doesn't Change
AB 1597 is careful to preserve two long-standing consumer protections written into the fee statute:
- No fee may ever be charged to notarize vote-by-mail envelopes or other voting materials.
- U.S. military veterans cannot be charged for notarizing specified veterans' benefit applications, consistent with the existing rule under Government Code Section 6107.
In other words, the core access protections for elections and veterans' services remain fully intact even as the general fee ceilings rise.
The Road to the Governor's Desk
AB 1597 was introduced on January 16, 2026, by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo. What followed was one of the more notable grassroots advocacy pushes in the profession's recent history, led by the California League of Independent Notaries (CLIN):
- CLIN launched a statewide campaign asking notaries and the public to submit letters of support, with an initial goal of 1,500 letters.
- Supporters ultimately submitted 1,950 letters to the Legislature — exceeding the goal by nearly 500.
- The bill cleared the Assembly Judiciary Committee, then passed the full Assembly by a 75–0 vote.
- It advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee and passed the full Senate 37–0.
- On June 30, 2026, Governor Newsom signed it into law.
The near-unanimous, bipartisan support across both chambers reflects broad recognition that the prior fee structure — largely unchanged since 2017 — had not kept pace with the actual cost of delivering reliable, in-person notarial service across the state.
When Does It Take Effect?
AB 1597 takes effect on January 1, 2027. Notaries, employers, title companies, law firms, and any organization that budgets for notarial services have roughly six months from signing to plan for the transition — updating posted fee schedules, client agreements, and internal billing practices ahead of the new year.
Why It Matters for Consumers and Businesses
Raising the statutory ceiling shifts where cost pressure lands, but it doesn't dictate outcomes — market conditions and individual business decisions will determine who actually pays more, and by how much:
- For notaries and mobile notary businesses, the higher caps mean more room to responsibly price in the real cost of travel, insurance, equipment, and training — particularly relevant for mobile services that already absorb significant overhead per appointment.
- For consumers needing occasional notarizations — powers of attorney, affidavits, real estate documents — the maximum allowable per-signature fee is modestly higher, though most everyday transactions still involve a small number of signatures.
- For title companies, law firms, and financial institutions that rely on high volumes of notarizations, the new ceilings may factor into vendor contracts and internal cost planning, especially for deposition-related work where the compounding per-item fees see the largest percentage increase.
- Public agencies and nonprofits operating on fixed budgets for notarial services may see incrementally higher procurement costs where they pay per-act rather than employing in-house staff notaries.
The Bigger Picture
At its core, AB 1597 is a recognition that a sustainable, accessible statewide notary network depends on fees that reflect current economic reality. The Legislature's findings language ties the increase directly to inflation and the rising cost of doing business — not an open-ended or automatically adjusting rate, but a one-time modernization addressing a gap that had grown since the last update.
For an essential, fraud-prevention public service that millions of Californians rely on every year — from first-time homebuyers signing loan documents to families executing powers of attorney for aging parents — AB 1597 aims to keep that network viable without abandoning the protections that matter most: free access for voting materials and veterans' benefits.
As the January 1, 2027 effective date approaches, it's worth watching how notaries, title companies, and legal service providers across California adjust their fee schedules — and whether this modernization effort proves to be a template for future updates as costs continue to evolve.