Notarial Fees
This domain tests the statutory fee cap and how to count notarial acts. Maryland fee questions are usually arithmetic scenarios: multiple signers, multiple certificates, or a request that mixes notarial and non-notarial services.
The fee cap
Maryland law sets a maximum fee for a traditional notarial act. The cap is $6 per notarial act. For remote online notarization, Maryland sets a separate maximum of $25 per notarial act. A notary may charge less-or nothing-but may not charge more. The fee is per act, not per document or per appointment. An acknowledgment for each signer is a separate act; a jurat for each affiant is a separate act.
What counts as one act
If one document has three signers and each signer must acknowledge, that is three notarial acts, so the maximum traditional fee is $18. If one signer signs one document and the notary administers one oath, that is one act. Copy certification is a separate notarial act. Travel is not a notarial act and must be handled as a separate charge, discussed in the travel domain.
Disclosure and records
Quote the fee before performing the act. Record the fee in the journal. Do not bundle “processing,” “printing,” or “convenience” charges into the notarial fee to exceed the cap. If no notarial act is performed-for example, the signer lacks identification and leaves-do not charge a notarial fee.
Worked example
Three officers sign one corporate resolution. Each signature requires an acknowledgment. The notary performs three acknowledgments. At the $6 cap, the notarial fee is 3 × $6 = $18. If the same three signers appeared remotely through an approved RON platform, the RON cap would be 3 × $25 = $75, assuming the notary charges the maximum.
Traps
The common errors are charging $6 per document instead of per act, adding an undisclosed “mobile fee” to the notarial charge, and charging the RON rate for an in-person act. Keep the act count and the fee entry consistent in the journal.