Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of these terms

By using this website, submitting the contact form, calling or texting, or booking an appointment with Addison Notary, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree with them, please do not use the service. Addison Notary is operated by Gwen, a notary public commissioned by the State of Texas and based in Addison, TX.

These terms apply alongside our Privacy Policy and our Disclaimer.

2. What this service is, and what it is not

Addison Notary performs notarial acts authorized by the State of Texas: acknowledgments, oaths and affirmations, jurats, copy certifications where the law permits them, and remote online notarization for documents Texas law allows to be notarized that way. Gwen notarizes documents you provide.

Addison Notary is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. We do not prepare, draft, select, complete or advise on documents, and we cannot tell you which document you need or whether yours will accomplish what you want. Those are questions for a licensed Texas attorney.

3. Eligibility and identification

You must be at least 18 years old to book. Every person who signs must be personally before the notary at the time of the act: in person at the appointment, or on the video session for an online notarization. A signature cannot be notarized for someone who is not present.

Each signer must present an unexpired, government-issued photo ID. The following are normally accepted:

• A Texas or other U.S. state driver license
• A state-issued identification card
• A U.S. passport or a foreign passport
• A permanent resident card
• A U.S. military ID

The name on the ID needs to reasonably match the name on the document. If your ID is expired, if the name does not match, or if you will be signing in a representative capacity (as an attorney-in-fact, an executor or a company officer, for example), tell us when you book. There is almost always a solution, but discovering the problem at the signing table costs you an appointment.

Bring the document complete but unsigned unless we tell you otherwise. Signing in advance is the most common reason an appointment has to be rescheduled.

4. Booking, confirmation and your written quote

Submitting the contact form is a request, not a confirmed appointment. An appointment exists once we confirm the date, time, place and price to you in writing. Until then, please do not plan your day around it.

Before the appointment we give you a written quote that separates the State-set fee from any travel or convenience fee. If the job turns out to be different from what was described (more signers, more documents, a second trip), we tell you the revised price before we start, not afterwards.

You are responsible for the accuracy of what you tell us: the number of signers, the document type, the address, and whether witnesses are needed. A wrong address or an extra signer who appears on the day is the usual source of an added charge.

5. Fees

The maximum fees for a notarial act in Texas are set by statute, not by us. Texas Government Code § 406.024 provides, among others:

• $10 for the first signature on an acknowledgment or proof, and $1 for each additional signature on the same document
• $10 for administering an oath or affirmation, with certificate and seal
• $10 for a certificate under seal not otherwise provided for
• $1 per page for copies
• $4 for a protest, plus $1 for each notice given

For an online notarization, Texas Government Code § 406.111 permits up to $25 in addition to the amounts above, per notarial act.

Travel is a different thing. Texas law regulates the notarial act, not the trip, so a travel fee is a separate, unregulated service and is always billed separately. Charging more than the statutory maximum by calling it a notary fee would be unlawful, which is why you will always see two distinct figures.

We charge nothing else per notarization. Our own fees are for the visit and for your time, and are charged once per visit, never per signature: one visit fee (at our Addison meeting spot, in Addison, in Zone 2 or in Zone 3, by ZIP code and confirmed from the address), and the evening, weekend, late-night, holiday, rush or care-facility surcharges, all as published on the pricing page. Parking, valet and tolls are charged at cost. Each appears on its own line, separate from the State fee, and the final amount is confirmed with you in writing before booking. We accept cash, card and Zelle, with no card surcharge.

Business pricing. When the visit is at a workplace, or a company pays or is invoiced, business pricing applies: one flat visit fee by visit size (quick, up to 30 minutes on site; large, up to 2 hours; extra-large, up to 4 hours; more than 75 notarizations or a recurring schedule is quoted), plus the State fee per notarization. The size is chosen from the approximate number of notarizations the business gives when booking; it is a fee for the reserved time, not a per-signature charge, and finishing early does not change it. If a job needs more time than booked, we ask before moving to the next size; the price never goes up after the fact. Businesses are invoiced and pay no rush fee.

The Texas Secretary of State is required to adjust the statutory amounts for inflation every five years, so the figures on this page may change when that happens. The price that governs is the one on your written quote. The visit fee is paid when you book and does not include the State fees, which are paid at the appointment, before the seal is applied; businesses pay on their invoice. This website itself does not take payments or card details.

6. Cancellations, rescheduling and no-shows

• The visit fee reserves your time and is paid when you book. Businesses are invoiced.
• Cancelling or rescheduling more than two hours ahead costs nothing, and the visit fee is refunded in full.
• If the signer is not ready within 15 minutes of the agreed time, the appointment is treated as one that could not proceed and the full visit fee is kept; where we can, we offer a new time.
• State fees are paid at the appointment, before the seal is applied. A State fee is never charged for an act that did not happen.
• If you cancel with less than two hours of notice, half the visit fee applies; if nobody is at the agreed place and time, the full visit fee applies. The State-set fee is never charged for an act that did not happen.
• If the appointment cannot be completed because acceptable ID is missing, the document is incomplete, or a signer cannot take part, it is treated as a no-show and the full visit fee applies.
• Arrival times are estimates, not guarantees. Traffic, weather, road closures, emergencies and earlier appointments can delay us. If we are running late, we will call or text you as soon as we can. A delay for these reasons does not cancel the appointment or change the agreed price.
• Every time we give you is Central Time (CST/CDT).
• If we cancel, there is no charge at all and we will find you the earliest alternative that works.

7. The duty, and the right, to refuse

A Texas notary is required to decline in certain circumstances. A refusal is not a judgement of you and it is not unwillingness: it is the legal obligation that makes a notarization mean anything at all. We will decline where, among other things:

• The signer is not personally present before the notary.
• The signer cannot communicate that they are signing willingly, or does not appear to understand what they are signing.
• The document is incomplete: blank spaces, missing pages, or no notarial certificate wording.
• The identification is not satisfactory: expired, without a photo, or a name that does not correspond to the document.
• There are signs of pressure, coercion or confusion, or someone else is answering for the signer.
• Texas law does not permit the act: certifying a copy of a vital record, for example.
• We have a reasonable concern for our safety, or anyone else's, at the appointment location.

We reserve the right to decline or end any appointment for these reasons. We never decline because of a person's sex, age, religion, race, ethnicity or national origin (1 TAC § 87.42).

When we decline we tell you why and, where we can, what would need to change for the signing to go ahead. If the appointment already involved a trip, the visit fee may apply.

8. Remote online notarization (RON)

Gwen also holds a Texas online notary public commission, which allows signers to appear by video wherever they are, provided the act is governed by Texas law. An online session adds requirements an in-person appointment does not have:

• Platform-run identity proofing: credential analysis plus knowledge-based authentication (KBA). Those questions are generated by the platform from public and financial records; we do not write them and cannot see them in advance.
• If identity proofing fails, we are not permitted to continue online. The alternative is an in-person appointment.
• The entire session is audio-video recorded, and that recording is retained for five years as Texas law requires. It is not optional and cannot be switched off.
• Technical requirements: a stable connection, a working camera and microphone, a current browser, and your physical ID to hand. A phone works, but a larger screen makes the session considerably easier.

In Texas, wills, codicils and testamentary trusts are excluded from remote and electronic notarization and must be signed in person. For those documents an in-person appointment is not a preference: it is the only route. Some recipients, too (county land records, certain banks, foreign consulates), will not accept an electronically signed document even where Texas law allows it. Check with the recipient before booking an online session.

9. No attorney–client relationship

Using this site, writing to us, or booking an appointment does not create an attorney–client relationship. Nothing we say, in writing or at the appointment, is legal advice about your situation. If you need to know which document is right for you, what effect it will have, or how it affects your rights, speak to a licensed Texas attorney.

Read the full disclaimer, including the required § 406.017 notice

10. Limitation of liability and the $10,000 surety bond

We perform every act with the care Texas law requires. Even so, we cannot guarantee that a third party will accept your document, or that the document will achieve what you want; that depends on its contents and on the recipient, not on the notarial act.

To the extent Texas law permits, our total liability arising out of the service is limited to the amount you paid us for the appointment concerned, and we are not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential damages, including economic loss, delay or lost opportunity. None of this limits liability that Texas law does not allow to be limited.

Like every Texas notary, Gwen has a $10,000 surety bond on file with the Secretary of State for the term of her commission. It is worth understanding what that is: the bond protects the public, not the notary. If someone is harmed by a breach of the duties of the office, they may claim against the bond, and the surety that pays out is then entitled to seek repayment from the notary personally. A bond is not liability insurance and is not a substitute for one.

11. Indemnity

You agree to hold us harmless from claims, losses and reasonable expenses arising from inaccurate information you gave us, from misuse of a notarized document, or from your breach of these terms. This does not apply to anything arising from our own negligence or wilful misconduct.

12. Governing law and venue

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Dallas County, Texas, and both parties consent to that jurisdiction.

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms: when the statutory amounts change, for instance, or when we add a service. The version that applies to your appointment is the one published on this page when you booked, and the last-updated date appears at the top. Material changes will be announced on this page.

14. Contact

If anything on this page is unclear, ask us before you book.

• Email: contact@addisonnotary.com
• Phone or text: (469) 993-1226
• Form: request an appointment
• Addison, TX 75001