Florida Notary Education Requirements

Published 2026-08-31 · Updated 2026-08-31 · Becoming a Notary

The actual requirement

A first-time applicant for a Florida notary commission must complete at least three hours of interactive or classroom instruction covering the duties of a notary public, including electronic notarization. The course must be taken from a vendor approved by the state.

Three points that resolve most of the confusion:

• It applies to first-time applicants only. Renewing notaries are not required to repeat it.
• It covers electronic notarization, which is why the content mentions e-notarization even for applicants who never intend to do it.
• There is no continuing education requirement for Florida notaries. None. Any course marketed as required annual notary CE is not describing Florida law.

The state publishes the list of approved education vendors — well over two dozen of them, including the National Notary Association, the American Society of Notaries, and a number of Florida-specific providers. Any approved vendor satisfies the requirement identically.

What the course actually covers

The syllabus is set to the duties of the office, and it is genuinely useful even to people who resent sitting through it:

• The notarial acts — acknowledgments, jurats, oaths, attested copies, marriage solemnization
• Identifying signers under Fla. Stat. §117.05(5), including credible witnesses
• Completing the notarial certificate correctly under §117.05(4)
• Seal requirements under §117.05(3)
• Fees — the $10 cap and what falls outside it
• Prohibited acts under §117.107, including the family-member restriction
• The unauthorized practice of law line
• Electronic and remote online notarization basics

Cost typically runs $20–$40 as a standalone, and it is frequently bundled into a bonding agency's application package at little or no additional charge. If you are paying substantially more than that for the bare requirement, you are paying for something else.

What's optional — and which optional things are worth it

The notary education market sells a great deal on top of a three-hour requirement. Sorting it honestly:

• Loan signing agent certification — not required by Florida, but practically useful. It teaches the loan documents and satisfies the onboarding checkbox most signing services use. Worth it if you intend to do closings; pointless otherwise.
• RON training — not a statutory requirement, but most RON platforms require their own onboarding, and the technology genuinely has a learning curve. Usually included with the platform.
• “Advanced” or “certified” notary designations — private titles with no legal standing in Florida. No borrower, title company, or court will ever ask.
• Annual notary CE subscriptions — Florida requires none. Skip them.

The one investment that reliably pays is not a course at all. It is reading Chapter 117 once, straight through, and keeping the Governor's Reference Manual for Notaries within reach.

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