California signing requirements

For each document: who has to witness it, whether a notary can take the witnesses' place, the statute that says so, and whether it is ever recorded. Each page carries the date it was last checked against the current statute text.

Notary fee cap

$15 per signature for an acknowledgment or a jurat — Government Code §8211. Travel and convenience fees are separate and agreed before the appointment.

Remote online notarization

Not available. Remote online notarization was authorised in principle in 2023 (SB 696), but nothing is operative until the Secretary of State's system is certified, by law no later than January 1, 2030. Every California notarization today happens in person.

Documents

Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney

Financial power of attorney

Witnesses: Two adult witnesses, or a notary's acknowledgment instead — either one satisfies the statute.

Notary: Not required for validity. Required in practice if the power will ever be used for real property, because it cannot be recorded without an acknowledgment.

Advance health care directive

Witnesses: Two adult witnesses, or a notary's acknowledgment instead. In a skilled nursing facility, a patient advocate or ombudsman must sign as a witness as well — whichever route is used.

Notary: Not required. A notary's acknowledgment replaces the two witnesses. The one case where a notary is mandatory is an electronic directive.

Child travel consent letter

Minor travel consent letter

Witnesses: None required by any California statute.

Notary: No law requires it. The airline agent, the cruise line and the border officer are who expect it, and a notarized letter is what they are used to seeing.

Caregiver's authorization affidavit

Caregiver authorization affidavit

Witnesses: None.

Notary: Not required. The affidavit is signed under penalty of perjury and is valid as it stands. Some schools and clinics ask for a notarization anyway; when they do, it is a jurat.

Will

Witnesses: Two witnesses, present at the same time, who see the will being signed or hear the testator acknowledge the signature.

Notary: No — and a notary cannot replace the witnesses. A notarized will with no witnesses is not a validly executed formal will.

True of every signing in California

A California notary's jurisdiction is the whole state (Government Code §8200). A notary commissioned in Solano County can notarize in Napa, Marin or Los Angeles.
The acknowledgment wording must be California's own certificate. A form printed with another state's acknowledgment gets a California certificate attached; the notary cannot complete the foreign wording.
The signer must be identified from satisfactory evidence: a current government photo ID, or the oath of a credible witness who knows them. A hospital wristband is not identification.

General information about how documents are executed, not advice about your situation. A notary public is not an attorney. The full disclaimer.