Hospital Notarization

As mobile Notary Publics’ in Los Angeles we are often asked whether we can and do service Los Angeles hospitals and emergency rooms? Is it possible to have notarization occur when the signer is in the hospital? Can notaries go to the hospital and sign there?

As mobile Notary Public’s our main goal is to make notarization convenient, efficient, and correct for all of ours clients. The advantage to being mobile is that we can travel and notarize wherever it is needed in the State of California, specifically anywhere in Los Angeles County where we can access. Notarization does not need to occur in a specific place.

There are some concerns to consider when requesting a notarization for a patient or family member in the hospital.
1. The Notary Public must have full access to the patient. So there must not be any restrictions to having contact with them, and it should not be considered if there is a health risk to the Notary Public or to the patient from this interaction (such as risk of infection).
2. The signer must be able to fully communicate with the Notary Public, understand what and why they are signing, indicate that it is their wish to have the document notarized. They must NOT be medicated or sedated or in a state of duress that will affect their judgment and ability to make legal decisions. Doctors can assist with determining whether the patient can sign, this is not up to the family members, it is a medical determination.
3. The signer must be able to sign their name and read the document. They cannot have assistance or have someone help them to sign by holding their hand or tracing their name by moving the patients arm. Even if the patient indicates they want it signed, they must sign it on their own with nobody assisting or signing for them.
4. Some patients are too sick, weak, or unable to sign their normal signature. In this case, they can sometimes use what is called a signature by mark. They would make an x or similar mark on each document in order to sign the document since they cannot subscribe their signature to the document. This method would require witnesses be present to witness and sign their names as witnesses to the mark.