# How can I get a "traveling" Notary public? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833 "2008-05-28T00:17:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/1 "2008-05-28T00:17:06Z")
My wife and I are adopting a baby from Taiwan. Anyway, one of the many things we have to do is have a detailed physical. That physical needs to be notarized, apparently in front of the doctor/nurse who is in charge. Well, the doctor I’m using doesn’t have a Notary Public. Is there any way to hire a “traveling” Notary Public to go with us to get the thing notarized? Is this unheard of? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/2 "2008-05-28T04:01:17Z")
Are you having the exam done in the States? I am not 100% sure how you would go about that. I cannot think of many reasons that a doctor’s office would need a notary public on staff and most people who sell their notary “services” work in an office where you go and sign something in front of them. Are you sure you don’t have any friends who are notarys? Do you know anyone who works for an attorney’s office? It is, of course, the signature that is being notarized. Maybe the doctor or nurse can take it somewhere to have it notarized since it is a special circumstance? What about the attorney who is doing the adoption? Does he or she have a secretary who might be a notary? ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/3 "2008-05-28T04:14:19Z")
The only mobile notaries I met were ones involved with real estate transactions. So maybe call a realtor and ask? I can’t think of where else to find one, but I do know that they exist. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/4 "2008-05-28T04:24:37Z")
I’m not sure where you are located. In some cities there are clinics that cater to traveler’s and their needs for visas, etc. You might have luck finding a notary in such a clinic. In Washington, for example, there is a place called Traveler’s Medical. In a city, you might also find a notary with an office near your doctor who for a fee will travel with you to the clinic. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/5 "2008-05-28T04:29:49Z")
I don’t know where you are, which might make a difference. I used to work for a hospital in Denver, and we had notaries all over the place (including moi). We had more notaries than we had people who could translate Swahili. So you might check with your doctor. If you go to a Doc in the box for physicals, maybe a notary from the nearest hospital could stop by. Or–I’m assuming it’s the doctor’s sig that needs to be notarized–just tell your doctor that you need the physical to be notarized, let the doc take care of it. If you need this, somebody else has needed it in the past, so there may very well be a way to accomplish it quite easily. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/6 "2008-05-28T05:39:09Z")
Contact the Embassy in Taiwan. They probably have a notary, I know every Spanish embassy has one and every Spanish consul can act as one. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/7 "2008-05-28T14:55:57Z")
Let me clarify. I am located in Michigan, in the United States. We are adopting internationally and need our medical records notarized. Would a real estate notary go with us to do this? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/8 "2008-05-28T15:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] Would a real estate notary go with us to do this? [/QUOTE] The only way to find out is to ask one. “Hey, would you come with me to Dr. So-and-so’s office to notarize his signature?” “How much would you charge to do that?” Or ask the doctor to come with you to the notary. There aren’t really “real estate” notaries, there are just “notaries”. As has been said, it is the veracity of the signature that the notary is attesting to. A “real estate notary” is just a notary who happens to work for a real estate company. Such a notary could easily attest to a doctor’s signature, if he was willing to do so. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/9 "2008-05-28T15:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] Would a real estate notary go with us to do this? [/QUOTE] If you just randomly call the local Century21 office, you might not do so well. It would help to have an existing relationship with a Realtor, otherwise, it might be hard to pry one loose from their regular business of selling houses just to watch someone sign a document. I just did a quick Yellow Pages search for “Notary” in this city and most of the listings were for mobile notaries. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/10 "2008-05-28T15:33:41Z")
I used to be a mobile notary and an escrow officer for a title company who had to arrainge closings in the strangest places. As was mentioned, a notary is a notary is a notary, it’s just the seal. [This site](http://www.123notary.com/) would be the most useful for what you’re after as it puts you directly in touch with notaries in your area. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/11 "2008-05-28T19:27:11Z")
Weird. I work for a social service agency which has a three-person adoption department. What you need done is part of their job. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/12 "2008-05-28T19:37:48Z")
I don’t know about where you live, but I just Google “mobile notary” and the city. I’ve used it a couple times for non-real estate matters. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/13 "2008-05-29T07:16:12Z")
Shit, just go to Mailboxes etc, or some other place that offers notary service, and just ask the notary if he wants to make an easy 50 bucks after work. A notary can notarize any signature (I think. IANAN). Joe ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-a-traveling-notary-public/450833/14 "2008-05-29T12:28:02Z")
I work in a real estate office with two notaries, and they have both done this on occasion. Call a small office and ask.