Hi — I'm Justin Smiley

Why evenings and weekends

I'll be straightforward about this, because it is the whole shape of the service: I have a full-time job. I'm a bookkeeper and an Enrolled Agent, and I work in leadership at a community college. Notary work happens after hours.

That turns out to suit almost everyone. The people who need a notary most urgently are usually the ones who cannot leave work to find one — and banks, shipping stores, and most mobile notaries all keep the same nine-to-five hours their customers do. Evenings and Saturdays are when the need actually is.

What the day job has to do with it

More than you might expect. An Enrolled Agent is federally licensed by the Treasury and admitted to practice before the IRS — it means I am already held to a federal standard of competence and ethics, and I renew it with continuing education. As a bookkeeper I handle other people's financial records for a living.

So sensitive paperwork, careful recordkeeping, and knowing exactly where the line sits between "I can help with that" and "you need a licensed professional" are not new territory for me. They are the job I already do.

How I work

You get a firm price before anything is booked. The per-signature fee is set by state law; the travel fee depends on distance and time of day. Both are published on this site, quoted together in advance, and neither changes at the table.

I arrive prepared. Journal, seal, extra pens, and a plan for the ID check. Preparation is most of what separates a twenty-minute signing from a two-hour one.

I tell you when something is wrong. If your ID is expired, if the name does not match, if the document is missing its notarial certificate, you will hear it immediately and plainly. A notarization that should not have happened is far more expensive than a rescheduled appointment.

What I won't do

A notary public is not an attorney. I cannot tell you which form to use, draft language for you, explain what a clause means, or advise you on whether to sign. Being an Enrolled Agent does not change that either — it is a tax credential, not a legal one, and it does not extend to the documents I notarize.

When a question crosses that line I will say so and point you toward someone qualified to answer it, rather than guess.