Massachusetts Notary Fees
Acknowledgment: No statutory maximum found
Massachusetts statute sets maximum fees only for protest-related acts (noting, protest, notices of non-acceptance/non-payment under c. 262, § 41); per the official Mass.gov summary of Richardson v. The UPS Store (2020), the $1.25 cap applies only to 'noting' and does not limit fees for any other notarial act. No fee may be charged for absentee-ballot or veterans'-benefit notarizations (c. 222, § 23).
Source: Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries (Mass.gov) / Massachusetts General Court · M.G.L. c. 262, § 41; M.G.L. c. 222, § 16; M.G.L. c. 222, § 23
Maximum notary fees in Massachusetts
What the official source allows a notary to charge for each notarial act. Charging less, or nothing, is allowed.
| Notarial act | Maximum fee | How it’s counted |
|---|---|---|
| Any Notarial Act | No statutory maximum found | no statutory maximum foundMass.gov: the c. 262, § 41 cap 'does not limit the fees for any other act by notaries.' No statutory maximum for acknowledgments, jurats, oaths, signature witnessing or copy certification was found in official sources. |
| Protest | See rule notes | custom ruleProtest of bill of exchange/order/draft/check/promissory note: $1 if amount is $500 or more, $0.50 if less; recording $0.50; noting non-acceptance/non-payment $0.75; each notice $0.25; total cost of protest not to exceed $2 ($500 or more) or $1.50 (less than $500). |
How Massachusetts counts notary fees
No statutory maximum found
The official source recorded for Massachusetts does not set a numeric maximum for any notarial act. Read the rule notes: a state without a number may still require that fees be reasonable, disclosed or agreed in advance.
Rules recorded as text
For protest, the verified record gives the rule as text rather than as a single per-unit maximum the calculator can check, so these are not evaluated automatically. The notes in the table above give the details from the source.
Price a Massachusetts appointment
Notarial acts start at the verified Massachusetts maximum and are checked against it. Travel and add-ons use example rates you can change.
Massachusetts quote calculator
1Job
Act fees default to the verified maximum
2Notarial acts
$10.00no statutory maximum found
Defaults to the verified Massachusetts maximum. Count units follow the state rule (per act, signature or signer).
3Travel
$40.00Used for the vehicle-cost estimate
Flat $40.00 per appointment.
4Printing & add-ons
$0.005Time & costs
Round trip
Fuel, wear, insurance share
Courier, supplies
Uses the miles you drive and your print cost whether or not you bill for them. An operational estimate, not accounting profit.
Suggested total
$50
General Notary Work · Massachusetts
- Notarial acts
- $10.00
- Travel & service fees
- $40.00
Job economics (estimate)
- Est. direct costs
- $0.00
- Est. net
- $50.00
- Effective rate
- $150.00/hr
20 min total time. Costs: mileage $0.00, printing $0.00, other $0.00. An operational estimate, not accounting profit; it leaves out taxes, insurance and overhead.
Breakdown
Notarial acts
1 × acknowledgment
$10.00
Travel
Flat
$40.00
Total
$50.00
Notarial acts vs. service fees
No statutory maximum found
No statutory maximum found
- No statutory maximum found for this act.
Travel, printing and add-ons are not part of this check. Some states restrict these charges, and listing a fee separately does not by itself make it permitted.
Travel fees in Massachusetts
No travel-fee text was captured from the Massachusetts official source in this data version. That is not the same as saying travel fees are unrestricted in Massachusetts; confirm with the commissioning authority, and agree the fee with the client before you drive.
Travel is a separate charge from the notarial act, so the maximums above do not cover it. Work out a travel charge with the notary travel fee calculator.
Quoted from the official source
The $1.25 fee cap set forth in G.L. c. 262, § 41, applies only to a particular notarial act known as 'noting,' i.e., a step in the process of protesting a dishonored negotiable instrument. It does not limit the fees for any other act by notaries. [c. 262, § 41:] for the protest of a bill of exchange, order, draft or check for non-acceptance or non-payment, or of a promissory note for non-payment, if the amount is five hundred dollars or more, one dollar; if it is less than five hundred dollars, fifty cents; for recording the same, fifty cents; for noting the non-acceptance or non-payment, seventy-five cents; and for each notice of non-acceptance or non-payment, twenty-five cents, with a maximum total cost of protest not to exceed two dollars for amounts of five hundred dollars or more, and one dollar and fifty cents for amounts less than five hundred dollars.
Caveats and research notes
M.G.L. c. 222, § 16 prohibits a notary public from receiving fees exceeding the maximum fees provided in c. 262, § 41. M.G.L. c. 222, § 23: no fee shall be charged by a notary public to notarize a signature on an absentee ballot identification envelope or other voting materials or on any application or claim by a United States military veteran for a pension, allotment, allowance, compensation, insurance or other veterans' benefit. The 'noStatutoryMaximum' conclusion rests on the Mass.gov law-library summary of Richardson v. The UPS Store, Inc., 486 Mass. 126 (2020).