Yes. A notary can come to a hospital, a care home, a rehab unit or a hospice, anywhere in the Tri-Valley, usually at short notice. It costs $10 for each document notarized plus the flat $75 travel fee. Two things decide whether the signing can go ahead: the patient needs photo ID, and the patient has to be awake enough to understand what they are signing. Call (925) 319-8855.

Where visits happenLink to this section

Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley, Pleasanton and Livermore
Kaiser Permanente, Dublin, San Ramon and Pleasanton
San Ramon Regional Medical Center
Assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing communities in Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon and Danville
Rehab and hospice facilities
Private homes, including hospice at home

What usually gets signedLink to this section

Document	What it does
Power of attorney	Lets someone manage bills, accounts and paperwork
Advance healthcare directive	Says who decides about care, and what the person wants
Trust and will documents	Estate paperwork prepared by an attorney
Deeds and property transfers	Real estate
Insurance and pension forms	Claims, beneficiaries
Bank forms	Adding a signer, changing a beneficiary

Get these four things ready before you callLink to this section

1. Find the patient's photo ID. This is the most common thing that stops a hospital signing. The ID is usually still at home. Check the bedside drawer or the handbag, or ask someone to bring it. Which IDs work.

If the patient has no acceptable ID and cannot easily get one, California allows two credible witnesses instead. They have to personally know the patient, each show their own valid ID, and swear under penalty of perjury to the patient's identity. They cannot be named in the document and cannot have a financial interest in it, which usually rules out the person the document benefits. The rules are in Civil Code 1185. Hospital staff often will not do this, so plan on family or friends.

2. Have the document complete and unsigned. Every blank filled in. A notary must not notarize a document that appears to be incomplete.

3. Work out whether it needs witnesses as well. Healthcare directives and wills usually do, and family members often do not qualify. Who can and cannot witness.

4. Note when the patient is most alert. Mornings are often better. Say so when you call and the visit gets scheduled around medication, meals, therapy and rounds.

Check these with the facilityLink to this section

Most facilities are helpful. A few want notice.

Are there visiting hours to work within?
Does the front desk need a name in advance?
Is there anything to sign in?
Is there a social worker or care coordinator to talk to?

If the patient is in a skilled nursing facility and the document is an advance healthcare directive, California also requires a patient advocate or ombudsman to sign as a witness, either as one of the two witnesses or in addition to the notarization (Probate Code 4675). The facility usually knows how to arrange this.

The hard part: is the patient able to sign?Link to this section

This is the thing that most often goes wrong, so it is worth saying plainly before you book.

The notarization can only go ahead if the person signing understands what they are signing and wants to sign it. In practice that means:

The patient can talk with the notary directly. Not through a relative. The California Notary Public Handbook says an interpreter should not be used either, because meaning gets lost in translation. If the patient does not speak English, ask for a notary who speaks their language.
The patient can say, in their own words, what the document is.
The patient is choosing to sign, rather than being talked into it.

If someone is heavily sedated, disoriented, or cannot respond, the notarization cannot happen. If a relative is answering the questions for them, it cannot happen.

This is not a rule anyone can bend. It exists to protect your family member.

If you are not sure whether your relative can still sign, talk to an elder law attorney before you book anyone. There are legal routes for someone who can no longer sign for themselves, and a notary is not one of them.

Practical notesLink to this section

Signing in bed is normal. The notary brings a clipboard and a good pen.

Thumbprints are required for powers of attorney, deeds, and anything else affecting real property (Government Code 8206). If the right thumb is not available, another finger can be used, or the notary notes in the journal why no print could be taken.

Oxygen, IV lines and limited mobility are routine. None of them are a problem.

Family in the room is welcome. The patient will be asked to speak for themselves, and the room may be asked to go quiet for a minute. That is not rudeness. It is the protection working.

Hospice visits get the time and the quiet they need.