FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS -THE NOTARY PUBLIC CAN ESTABLISH THE IDENTITY OF THE SIGNERS Using identification documents as follows (Civil Code section 1185(b)(3) and (4)): There is reasonable reliance on any one of the following forms of identification, provided it is current or was issued within 5 years:

(A) An identification card or driver’s license issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

(B) A United States passport.

(C) An inmate identification card issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, if the inmate is in custody in California state prison.

(D) Any form of inmate identification issued by a sheriff’s department if the inmate is in custody in a local detention facility.

(E) A valid consular identification document issued by a consulate from the applicant’s country of citizenship, or a valid passport from the applicant’s country of citizenship.

(F) A driver’s license issued by another state or by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue driver’s licenses.

(G) An identification card issued by another state.

(H) A United States military identification card (caution: current military identification cards might not contain all the required information).

(I) An employee identification card issued by an agency or office of the State of California, or an agency or office of a city, county, or city and county in California. (J) An identification card issued by a federally recognized tribal government.

When you arrive, please have Driver’s license ‘or’ an unexpired passport ready

It means that someone who knows the notary public and the individual will be able to vouch for the individual who is wanting to have their document notarized.

Yes. An acknowledgment may not be taken or a jurat executed on the basis of personal knowledge alone. Satisfactory evidence of the signer’s identity must be provided and noted in the journal.

Oath of Two Credible Witness means that someone who does not know the notary public but knows the individual will be able to vouch for the individual who is wanting to have their document notarized.

An acknowledgment means that you have asked the individual for their "paper" identification and/or if the individual has signed the document before coming to see a notary, the notary asks the individual if this is their signature. If it is, then the notary can continue with their duties.

A Jurat is identified by the wording “Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed)” contained in the form. In the jurat, the notary public certifies: •

• That the signer personally appeared before the notary public on the date indicated and, in the county, indicated;
  
• • That the signer signed the document in the presence of the notary public;
  
• • That the notary public administered the oath or affirmation*; and
  
• • To the identity of the signer (Jurat information is from the California Notary Public Handbook)