Hospital Notary Public Signing Checklist

Need a mobile notary at a hospital in San Francisco or the Bay Area? Whether you need a hospital notary public for yourself or a loved one, SF Notary + Apostille provides experienced traveling notaries who come directly to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), nursing homes, assisted living communities, hospice care facilities, and private residences throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Our experienced hospital notary team is known for its patience, compassion, and professionalism when assisting patients, seniors, and their families with important legal documents such as powers of attorney, advance health care directives, wills, trusts, affidavits, real estate documents, and other notarized paperwork. We understand that arranging a notary appointment in a medical setting can be stressful, and we work closely with families, hospital staff, attorneys, and social workers to make the process as smooth as possible.

The legal requirements for notarizing a document in a hospital are the same as they are anywhere else. However, medical facilities present unique considerations, including the signer's willingness and mental awareness, acceptable identification, visitor policies, witness requirements, and scheduling around patient care. Our experienced mobile hospital notaries will explain the process, answer your questions, and help ensure your appointment goes smoothly from start to finish.

Here’s a checklist we created to make the process as smooth as possible:

Step 1: Determine Document Requirements

In California, a notary public cannot provide, recommend, or select legal documents for clients, as doing so may constitute the unauthorized practice of law. In our conversations with clients, most tell us they obtained their documents from an attorney or a hospital social worker. Others say they downloaded them from a government website or from online legal document providers such as LawDepot, LegalZoom, or Rocket Lawyer. However you obtain your document, we recommend consulting an attorney to ensure you are using the document that is appropriate for your particular situation.

For reference only, the following are the most common types of documents we see people sign while in the hospital.

Advance Health Care Directive / Health Care Power of Attorney

According to the California Attorney General (AG), an advance health care directive “lets your physician, family and friends know your health care preferences, including the types of special treatment you want or don't want at the end of life, your desire for diagnostic testing, surgical procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and organ donation.”

The AG offers a fillable template, which you can access by clicking on the following text: California Advance Health Care Directive. Please consult with an attorney to determine if this document might be right for your situation.

Durable Power of Attorney

According to the National Cancer Institute, a durable power of attorney (DPA) is a legal document that “gives one person (such as a spouse, relative, friend, or lawyer) the authority to make medical, legal, or financial decisions for another person.”

The signer can choose to make some durable power of attorney documents take effect immediately or at a future point when they can no longer able to make decisions for themselves. Usually the DPA lasts until the signer dies or chooses to revoke it.

The San Mateo County Law Library offers a fillable template you can access by clicking on the following text: Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney. Please consult with an attorney to determine if this document might be right for your situation.

If a power of attorney is needed to access a bank or investment account, we recommend discussing requirements with the financial institution, as their processes might require the execution and notarization of a specific version of a power of attorney or additional documents.

Will

According to the CA Attorney General, “One way you can control the distribution of your property after death is through a will.” The Sacramento County Public Law Library offers a template that you can access by clicking on the following text: California will. Please consult with an attorney to determine if this document might be right for your situation.

In California, wills are usually not notarized and instead need to be signed by two impartial witnesses. An impartial witness cannot be a direct or indirect beneficiary of the will. One of our hospital notaries can serve as one witness, and you can provide the other or we can bring a second witness with us for an additional fee.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Many hospitals have policies that forbid nurses and other staff from acting as witnesses. Consult with the facility staff prior to setting your notary appointment.

Step 2: Ensure that the Patient Has an Acceptable Form of ID

At the notary appointment, the patient will need to present satisfactory evidence of their identification. The most common forms of acceptable IDs are listed below. The ID must be unexpired and/or issued within the last 5 years. A photocopy or picture of an ID card is not acceptable.

• Passport issued in the USA or any foreign country

• Driver’s license issued in the USA, Mexico, or Canada

• DMV-issued ID (including Senior ID) card issued in the USA

• US military ID

• California state, county, or city employee ID

NOTE: A green card is not an acceptable for of ID

If the patient does not have an acceptable form of identification, the patient or the patient's family will need to arrange for two credible witnesses to be present at the notary appointment. Each credible witness must present an acceptable form of identification, swear or affirm under oath that they personally know the patient, and sign the notary's journal.

Important: Many hospitals, rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities, and other healthcare providers have policies that prohibit nurses, physicians, social workers, and other employees from serving as credible witnesses. We recommend confirming the facility's policy before scheduling your hospital notary appointment. If staff members are not permitted to act as credible witnesses, the patient's family will need to arrange for two qualified individuals to be present at the signing.

Step 3: Determine Patient Eligibility to Sign

To ensure a successful hospital notary appointment, the patient must be awake, alert, and able to communicate directly with the notary. California law requires the notary to determine that the patient understands the nature and purpose of the document they are signing and is signing willingly, without coercion. During the appointment, the notary will speak privately with the patient and ask a few simple questions to confirm that they appear aware, competent, and capable of making their own decisions.

A notary public cannot notarize a document if the patient is unconscious or appears unable to understand what they are signing due to a medical condition, cognitive impairment, confusion, or the effects of medication.

To help your appointment go smoothly, please notify the nursing staff in advance that a mobile notary will be visiting. Hospital patients are frequently taken for tests, imaging, therapy, or other procedures, and the nursing staff can often let you know the best time for the appointment or alert you if the patient will be temporarily unavailable. Scheduling around the patient's care can help avoid delays and unnecessary travel fees.

Step 4: Determine Physical Ability to Sign

Jittery signatures due to the effects of a patient’s medical condition or medications can usually be notarized. But if the patient is struggling with the pen, perhaps due to a stroke or weakness, they can sign their name with an X or just a mark.

The signature by mark method requires two disinterested witnesses to sign the document and write their names on both the document and in the notary's journal. One of these witnesses must also write the signer's name next to the signer's mark. The witnesses do not need to know the signer personally, but they must not have any financial or beneficial interest in the transaction or otherwise benefit from the signer executing the document. The notary public cannot serve as one of these witnesses.

Signature by mark witnesses do not present their ID to the hospital notary or sign the notary’s journal.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Many hospitals have policies that forbid nurses and other staff from acting as signature by mark witnesses. Consult with the facility staff prior to setting an appointment.

Step 5: Determine if an Ombudsman Is Needed

If the patient is in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) and needs to sign an Advance Health Care Directive, it may be necessary to have an ombudsman present at the signing. We recommend contacting the facility’s staff, most likely the patient’s social worker, for help securing and scheduling an ombudsman. Once you know the ombudsman’s availability, we will try to make it work with our schedule.

Information on the role of an ombudsman can be found by clicking on the following link: California Department of Aging—Long-Term Care Ombudsman

Signings that occur in a medical facility other than a Skilled Nursing Facility do not require the presence of an ombudsman.

Step 6: Schedule Your Notary Appointment

Once you have reviewed the steps above and determined that the patient is ready to sign, schedule a mobile notary appointment by calling +1 (415) 655-9455 or emailing info@sfnotary.com. Rush, evening, and weekend appointments are often available. We accept cash, check, PayPal, or credit card payments.