ByIs Visiting a Maryland Notary the Only Way To Notarize Documents?
Getting your documents notarized the traditional way is tedious, even if you manage to schedule a meeting with a notary quickly.
Is appearing before a Maryland notary in person the only way to have your contracts notarized? DoNotPay is here to tell you all about online notarization and teach you how to notarize documents without leaving your home or office.
What Documents Can You Get Notarized By a Maryland Notary Public?
Maryland notaries can perform the following notarial acts:
- Taking acknowledgments
- Administering affidavits and oaths
- Notarizing signatures on any document, including:
- Car title transfers
- Wills
- Real estate deeds
- Affidavits
- Business contracts
- Copy of documents
- Powers of attorney
Every notary public has to identify signers by asking for their valid identification documents. Once the parties are identified properly, the notary has to:
- Ensure all parties know what they’re signing
- Determine whether the signing is voluntary
- Witness the signing of the documents
- Provide a notarial certificate containing the official notary signature and stamp
If a notary suspects fraud or the signers don’t provide their IDs, the notary has to refuse to notarize the document.
Traditional Notarization Process in Maryland Explained
The traditional notarization process includes going to the notary’s office to get your documents notarized. While in most states the process can be both electronic and paper-based, as of January 2021, Maryland notaries can only perform electronic notarizations. While going paperless is more practical, most Maryland residents still find this way of getting documents notarized complicated.
The procedure usually lasts a few days since it includes the following steps:
- Finding an available notary
- Setting up a meeting
- Emailing your documents
- Appearing before the notary
- Providing your ID
- Paying the fees
- Signing the document electronically
- Waiting for the notary to attach a notarial statement and mark it with the electronic signature and stamp
Should you make even the smallest mistake—such as signing a jurat in advance or forgetting your ID—your documents won’t get notarized. This means that you’ll have to repeat each of the above-mentioned steps and waste more time. Since most situations require an immediate document notarization, the traditional procedure isn’t convenient.
How To Find a Notary in Maryland
If you’d like to find a notary public in Maryland, you can do so by:
- Typing in “Maryland notary” on Google—You’ll be presented with a list of the closest notary offices
- Calling your bank to check if they offer notary services—Most large banks—including Wells Fargo and Bank of America—employ notaries. Banks usually don’t charge notary fees to their clients, which is great if you need to have your contracts notarized frequently
- Visiting a local AAA store—All AAA stores should employ notaries public. Bear in mind that AAA notaries can’t notarize your business contracts
- Contacting the nearest UPS store—Most UPS branches offer notary services even on weekends
- Checking if a nearby law office or real estate company employs notaries—Lawyers and real estate agents deal with documents that need to be notarized on a daily basis, which is why most of them offer notary services
Don’t Bother With a Maryland Notary Search—Learn All About Online Notarization
Registering for an online notary service is the most efficient way of having your documents notarized. Once you sign up for one of the platforms, you can have your contracts notarized from any place and device.
The platform connects you with a notary who operates 24 hours a day via a video call. The notary public witnesses the signing of the contract virtually and issues the required certificate. Instead of wasting days on the traditional procedure, you’ll be able to take care of document notarization in a matter of minutes.
While convenient, remote notarization can be expensive as you need to pay $25 for every document. That’s why it’s important to choose a wallet-friendly yet equally efficient online notary app—such as .
How Much Can a MD Notary Charge?
The following table shows the maximum fee Maryland notaries can charge for their services:
| Notary Service | Maximum Fee |
| Original notarial act | $4.00 |
| Multiple notarized copies of the same document | $4.00 per signature on the first copy
$1.00 per signature on every additional copy |
| Reproduction of a notarized contract | $1.00 per copy |
| Certified copy of a record from the notary’s journal | $2.00 per copy |
| Mobile notary | $5.00 fee + $0.57 per mile |
A Guide to DoNotPay’s Practical Notary Feature
If you’d like to have your contracts notarized as efficiently as possible without paying an arm and a leg, you should try DoNotPay’s Notarize Any Document product. With us, you can get your documents notarized virtually in less than five minutes, regardless of the state you live in—be it Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, or Pennsylvania.
Here’s how you can use our product:
- Open
- Choose Notarize Any Document
- Upload your contract
- Enter your email address
- Click on the link we email you
The link allows you to schedule a meeting with a remote notary who will take care of your document notarization via a video call. Contrary to other online notary apps, DoNotPay doesn’t charge an astronomical amount for every document. When you sign up for our app, you’ll have to pay a small monthly fee to access all our features, including the notary one.
Write Contracts and Have Them Notarized Through the Same App!
DoNotPay has another useful feature that can help you draw up countless legal documents—including lease, non-compete, and prenuptial agreements—in a few clicks. To make the process even more convenient, we have integrated both features to enable you to create contracts and get them notarized right away.
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