Notary law changes in 2026, and what starts in 2027

The short list

Our grades on the directory are for companies, not state rules. These changes affect what any notary in those states must do, whoever they work for.

Pennsylvania: new regulations from March 28, 2026

The Pennsylvania Department of State adopted regulations under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, at 4 Pa. Code Chapters 161, 163, and 167, effective March 28, 2026. The Department says they do not change the core of the law, such as personal appearance.

What you will notice as a customer:

• More IDs count. The added list includes armed forces ID cards, Department of Homeland Security ID cards, Social Security cards, Pennsylvania state-related or state university ID cards, and consular IDs if the notary can read the language.
• Less personal data in the journal. The journal may not hold your Social Security number, your full driver’s license number, your date and place of birth, or similar details. It may hold the last four digits of an ID.
• An itemized receipt. Notaries must give one for all fees. The fee caps for existing acts did not change. A new $5 per-signature fee applies to witnessing or attesting a signature.
• The electronic add-on. Electronic and remote notaries may charge up to $20 per act that involves an electronic record or communication technology.
• Remote platforms. The rules set more specific standards for approving remote technology, and a notary must tell the Department within 30 days of changing providers.

For notaries: the bond rises from $10,000 to $25,000 for anyone appointed or reappointed on or after March 28, 2026, and the stamp must carry a seven-digit commission number. Current commissions may keep their bond and seal until they expire.

The Department also says a notary may notarize a translation only if the translator makes a verification on oath or affirmation. That fits what notarized translation describes. Pennsylvania’s remote rules are covered in electronic notary vs remote online notary.

Virginia: a journal for every notary, then a course in 2027

The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s July 2026 newsletter lists the changes. From July 1, 2026, a journal must be kept for nonelectronic as well as electronic acts, for at least five years from the transaction. Before, the journal rule was aimed at electronic notaries. Now a notary at a bank counter keeps one too, so expect to sign a journal.

The newsletter also describes a duty for real estate settlement agents to take reasonable steps to verify identity, and a rule that a notary must show proof of commission to buy a seal or stamp.

Two changes wait until July 1, 2027: new course and examination requirements for commissions, and a $5.00 paper land-record filing fee with an electronic land-record filing system. If you plan to become a Virginia notary, that is the date to watch. What a Virginia electronic notary can do is on electronic notary vs remote online notary.

Texas: education, a new offense, and 10 years of records

Texas Senate Bill 693 took effect September 1, 2025, and its education rule applies to applications for appointment or reappointment submitted on or after January 1, 2026. The Secretary of State sets the courses, capped at two hours for appointment and two hours of continuing education for reappointment.

Two parts matter to signers. A notary must now keep required records until the 10th anniversary of the notarization. And a notary who notarizes knowing the signer did not personally appear commits an offense, a Class A misdemeanor, or a state jail felony if the document transfers an interest in real property.

Remote notarization: two states still waiting

• Massachusetts has a remote notarization law, but the Secretary of the Commonwealth says the training and notice form are not available yet, so notaries should not use online platforms. See Massachusetts remote notarization.
• Georgia’s 2025 to 2026 remote online notary bill cleared a House committee and then died. See Georgia remote notary.
• California has an online notarization law that the Secretary of State says becomes operative when its technology project is done, or by January 1, 2030 at the latest. Its customer alerts still say webcam notarizations are invalid for California notaries.

What to do with this as a signer

1. Expect to sign a journal more often, and expect fewer personal details to be written in it in Pennsylvania.
2. In Pennsylvania, ask for the itemized receipt. Check the electronic add-on is no more than $20 per act.
3. If you do not have a driver’s license, ask whether another ID on the state’s list will work. Pennsylvania’s list grew this year.
4. For a video session, ask which state commissions the notary and check the commission. See how to check a notary’s commission.

What notaries may charge, state by state, is on how much does a notary cost.

Next step

Open your state page from the directory for the rule where you are. If the office receiving your document takes a remote notarization, the buttons below are video notaries, ordered by grade.