How to find a notary in Pennsylvania (2026)

Quick answer

If you need a document notarized today in Pennsylvania:

Your bank is the fastest and usually free — if you’re a customer.
A UPS Store or FedEx Office charges around $10–$15 per signature for walk-ins.
Your public library is free in many counties; call first.
A mobile notary will come to you for the $5 statutory fee plus travel.
A RON platform (Remote Online Notarization) notarizes from your phone in about 10 minutes for $25.

Pennsylvania caps the notarial fee itself at $5 per act under 4 Pa. Code § 167.3, with a $20 surcharge permitted for electronic/remote notarization. Everything above that is either travel, convenience, or platform fees.

Decision tree — pick the fastest option

Your situation	Best choice
You already bank with Chase, PNC, Citizens, Wells Fargo, TD, or a local credit union	Walk into a branch. Bring the unsigned document and photo ID.
You need it today and you’re not a bank customer	UPS Store, FedEx Office, or AAA branch (members).
Document is short, simple, and you’re home-bound or working late	RON (Remote Online Notarization).
You need multiple signatures at a specific place (closing, estate planning, hospital)	Mobile notary.
You’re signing a will or a self-proving affidavit on a will	In-person only — do not use RON. See the caution below.
You have no budget	Public library, courthouse law library, or — if you have an account — your bank.

Option 1 — Your bank (free for account holders)

Most Pennsylvania banks notarize for account holders at no charge. Call ahead to make sure a notary is on duty; the person at the teller window is not always commissioned.

Bring: Your unsigned document, a government-issued photo ID, and anyone else who needs to sign.
Don’t: Sign the document before you get there. Under 57 Pa.C.S. § 305, a jurat requires the signer to sign in the notary’s presence.

Banks are the cheapest option for routine documents — affidavits, vehicle title transfers, consent forms, POAs — but branch staff will often decline real estate documents, complex trust instruments, or anything they haven’t seen before. That’s a policy choice, not a legal limit.

Option 2 — UPS Store, FedEx Office, AAA

Retail chains with a notary on staff are the next-best walk-in option. Most UPS Store locations and many FedEx Office stores offer notary services during normal hours.

Typical cost: $10–$15 per signature for the notarization itself, plus optional printing/scanning fees.
Call ahead. Not every location has a notary on every shift. Ask specifically.
AAA offers free notary service to members at most branches — worth a look if you hold a card.

The notarial fee ceiling is $5 under PA law. Chains charge more by packaging in a “service” or “convenience” fee, which is technically permitted as a clerical charge under § 167.3 as long as it’s disclosed before the act.

Option 3 — Public libraries and county offices

Many Pennsylvania public libraries and county Register of Wills offices have notaries available by appointment, often free or at the statutory $5 rate. Coverage varies wildly by county — Allegheny, Philadelphia, and Montgomery counties offer the most public-library notary services; rural counties may have none.

Call your library’s main desk. Ask: “Do you have a notary on staff, and do I need an appointment?”

Option 4 — Mobile notaries (they come to you)

A mobile notary travels to your home, office, hospital, or meeting location. This is the right choice when:

The signer is bedridden, hospitalized, or cannot travel.
You have multiple documents and multiple signers in one place.
You need the notarization at an unusual hour.

Cost: The $5-per-act statutory cap still applies to the notarization itself. A mobile notary charges a travel fee on top — typically $25–$75 depending on distance and time of day. Under 4 Pa. Code § 167.3, the travel fee must be disclosed before the notarization. If a mobile notary refuses to quote the travel fee in advance, find someone else.

To find a mobile notary in your ZIP code, search directories like the National Notary Association’s (“find a notary”) tool, Notary Rotary, or 123notary. You can also search the Pennsylvania Department of State’s public directory.

Option 5 — Remote Online Notarization (RON)

Under 57 Pa.C.S. § 306.1 (made permanent by Act 97 of 2020), a PA notary may notarize your document entirely by video call. The signer can be anywhere in the United States; the notary must be physically located in Pennsylvania.

How it works: Upload a PDF to a RON platform, verify your identity (photo ID scan + a few knowledge-based questions pulled from public records), join a video call with a commissioned PA notary, sign digitally, and download the notarized PDF — usually in under 10 minutes.

Cost: Most platforms charge $25 for the first seal ($5 notarial fee + the $20 electronic surcharge permitted under 4 Pa. Code § 167.3) and $10 for each additional seal.

Platforms with PA-commissioned notaries: Proof (formerly Notarize), OneNotary, BlueNotary, NotaryCam, DocuSign Notary. The Department of State publishes the full approved-vendor list as a PDF on its Electronic or Remote Notarization page.

Do not RON: wills, codicils, self-proving affidavits on wills, or any document your attorney has told you requires traditional paper execution. Pennsylvania’s Estates & Fiduciaries Code still requires in-person execution for testamentary documents, and the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries and Ballard Spahr have both written that a RON-notarized will is “confusing at best and invalid at worst.”

How to verify a notary is real

Anyone who claims to be a PA notary is listed in the Department of State’s public database at notaries.pa.gov. Search by name, county, or commission number. If the record doesn’t show an active commission on the date of your document, do not proceed.

Red flag: a “notary” who advertises as a “notario público,” claims to give legal advice, or offers to backdate a signature. All three are prohibited under 57 Pa.C.S. § 325 and 4 Pa. Code § 167.121. See 5 red flags of notary fraud.

What to bring — every option

The unsigned document (or documents).
A current government-issued photo ID for each signer — PA driver’s license, PA ID, US passport, military ID, or equivalent under 57 Pa.C.S. § 304.
A pen with blue or black ink (never pencil, never erasable).
Any witnesses the document itself requires. A notary is not a witness; deeds and wills often need separate witnesses alongside the notary.