For Arizona notary’s
What are you charging for trust/estate signing? I’ve had some different answers from notaries. I am trying to get into doing these and don’t want to overprice or underprice myself.
Thanks!
Although I am not an Arizona Notary. From a legal standpoint, it’s important to remember that notary fees are generally established by each state, and trust and estate documents are typically considered the same as any other standard legal document for notary purposes. When it comes to general notary services in Florida, we base our fees on the number of notarial stamps applied. That said, Florida law does allow notaries to charge extra for any additional services provided, which could include things like printing, photocopying, or offering mobile notary services. If you want to make sure you’re charging competitively within your local area, I would suggest conducting a market survey to understand what fees other notaries in your area are charging and what the general market will support. However, it’s essential to be mindful and avoid practices that could be seen as “price gouging,” as this can easily lead to dissatisfied customers and potentially damage your reputation and other consequences. I went to Bill Soroka’s course Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agents (CNTDAs) a while back, and they mentioned estate/trust stuff could bring in as much as $250. Hope this helps!
I did Bill’s classes also.
I did my trust and I have 7 stamps and 11 of my signatures and 4 witness sigs. Technically having a notary would be $70 + mileage. We aren’t allowed to charge time and printing like you say, but a notary will sit for 45 min (give or take).
This seems almost like a loan doc since sigs/stamps/time are about the same. Just no printing if picking up the binder from the lawyer. Sometimes the client will have the trust in hand and just needs the notary to come over.
I was curious. I’ve had a document preparer who has been doing this for quite some time, feel my $250 is high.
I’m not in AZ either. My take on you thinking $250 is too high and using your example of “Sometimes the client will have the trust in hand and just needs the notary to come over”: In that case, instruct the signers to have everything signed EXCEPT any document which needs notarization. Then, when you get there all you do is get the signatures for those docs and notarize. This should cut down on your time. Time is money.
Now the above scenario is you traveling to signers and notarizing a few documents. You will not be printing. You will not be picking up and delivering the Trust documents. You will not be presenting the entire Trust. This is the way it usually works when you meet with the attorney. The attorney arrives before you and presents/explains everything and gets everything signed except what needs notarization. The notary arrives ONLY to notarize, collects payment and leaves. No need to spend 45 minutes or so.
Caveat: If signers have extensive property holdings, there may be numerous notarizations. I’m in California and $250 for a Trust signing is a good starting point. 
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This is about all I do, after six years. I’m in Virginia and can only charge for travel plus the notarization fee. I decided that even if the total is technically $200 I’d only charge a maximum of $100. I don’t feel good about nitpicking and my clients are delighted. As a result, most of my work comes from repeat clients. I did take the CNTDA course too. I couldn’t live with myself if i felt i was overcharging. The other notaries in my area seem greedy and most don’t abide by the law.
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Hi _veg, I can help, I’ve been involved in Living Trust signings for nearly 30 years. But I’m in Southern California, where we can charge whatever is fair as long as the clients understand that the $15 per notarized signature fee is included in the overall cost of the notary service. Even if the signers were standing at the counter of a UPS store, the flat fee would be at least $165 (11 notarized signatures) and 4 witness signatures. Maybe 2 of the people standing in line behind the signers would witness for free just to move the line along. So your base fee would be at least that much, plus UPS does not print 200 documents for free. The reason I used this example is that every time I visit my local UPS store, a well-dressed couple is standing at the counter signing loan docs or a living trust. The absolute convenience of having a mobile notary handling this whole process at their home has to be factored into your fee. Something to remember, you, the notary, are legalizing their trust, and there’s usually no signing service employees reviewing your work; it’s General Notary stuff. That means there’s no “do-overs”, and notary errors might not show up for decades. The consequences can be devastating,
Thanks for your response.
That’s odd – I’ve never seen anyone signing trust documents at UPS. It sounds like it would be awkward with witnesses and all, especially in a busy store.
FOUR witness signatures? It’s just two witnesses needed here. We also cannot charge per signer; it’s per notarization. (Are you saying that in CA if four people’s signatures are notarized in one notarization you charge $60?) And our max. fee in VA is $10.
And as for printing, I have only printed docs once in six years for trust signings because the attorney was in CA. I’m also not worried about errors because I’ve been in ongoing training since 2021. If the document does not have the proper wording, I either fix it or use my own certificate. And I journal every detail of the signing.
I also think that anyone who goes to UPS for a trust signing is insane. Those notaries don’t get any training – I see them on Reddit.
I did disclose that I live in Southern California.
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Just pointing out the plural is notaries.
What do you call 2 or more notaries?
Competitors.
In California, estate planning attorney fees typically range from $1,000 to $5,000+ for a comprehensive package, with most clients paying a flat fee of $2,000–$4,000 for a revocable living trust. Simple, will-based plans usually cost $1,000–$2,500, while complex estates with tax planning can exceed $10,000.
In Cali, notaries are permitted to charge $15 per notarized signature (not per document) plus any reasonable amount for mobile fees. For me, that usually adds up to something in excess of $100 and my biggest fee was $300 for a comprehensive estate package.
I post this so that those notaries who concentrate on estate plan jobs have a comparison to measure against. In my view, it’s never “nit-picking” to charge what you’re worth, just as the attorneys do as shown above.
In the end, you should do what you feel is best for the services you provide.
Lot of helpful comments here. Seems the $200 mark is pretty standard. One of the notaries I talked to, charged a little more than $250. But I didn’t get a chance to ask her why. We were at a networking event.
When I first started the Trust signings I was given the job through a notary who was the local contact for a Southern California law firm. She paid me $100 for two signers. Doing the math, I was underpaid. When I get these assignments privately I request $175 but at 5 notarizations per person that works out to $25 travel fee. I think $200 is more equitable, but I haven’t asked for that fee yet. Some of the trust signings I’ve done are for firms at the low-end of the fees. When I ask for more money I will get the answer that the whole package cost the signers $1000 and there is no wiggle room to increase the fee.