California Identification (ID) Requirements

 

Proper identification is required for any notary service requiring verification of signature. California recognizes the following types of identification per the Secretary of State 2017:

 

The following types of identification are acceptable if they are current OR were ISSUED within 5 years:

 

1. An identification card or driver’s license issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles;

2. A United States passport;

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

4. Any form of inmate identification issued by a sheriff’s department, if the inmate is in custody in a local detention facility; or

5. A type of identification listed below, provided that it contains a photograph, description of the person, signature of the person, and an identifying number:  

 

1. A passport issued by a foreign government, provided that it has been stamped by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; (refer to 4. above)

2. A driver’s license issued by another state or by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue driver’s licenses; (refer to 4. above)

3. An identification card issued by another state; (refer to 4. above)

4. A United States military identification card with the required photograph, description of the person, signature of the person, and an identifying number. (Some military identification cards do not contain all the required information.); (refer to 4. above)

5. 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. (refer to 4. above)

6. An identification card issued by a federally recognized tribal government

 

 

If you have none of the required documents above, two credible witnesses can be used in place of the above identification per (Civil Code section 1185(b)(1)). In essence, the Credible Witness is the living breathing ID for the signer.

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The Two Credible Witnesses:

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 The individual appearing before the notary public as the signer of the document is the person named in the document;

1. The credible witness personally knows the signer;

2. The credible witness reasonably believes that the circumstances of the signer are such that it would be very difficult or impossible for the signer to obtain another form of identification;

3. The signer does not possess any of the identification documents authorized by law to establish the signer’s identity; and

4. The credible witness does not have a financial interest and is not named in the document signed.

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Signature by Mark:

When the signer of an instrument cannot write (sign) his or her name, that person may sign the document by mark.

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The requirements for notarizing a signature by mark are as follows:

• The person signing the document by mark must be identified by the notary public by satisfactory evidence. 

• The signer’s mark must be witnessed by two persons who must subscribe their own names as witnesses on the document. One witness should write the person’s name next to the person’s mark and then the witness should sign his or her name as a witness. The witnesses are only verifying that they witnessed the individual make his or her mark on the document.

A notary public completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.

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A notary public is not required to identify the two persons who witnessed the signing by mark or to have the two witnesses sign the notary public’s journal.

Exception: If the witnesses were acting in the capacity of credible witnesses in establishing the identity of the person signing by mark, then the witnesses’ signatures must be entered in the notary public’s journal.

The signer by mark must include his or her mark in the notary public journal. To qualify as a signature, the making of the mark in the notary public journal, must be witnessed by an individual who must write the person’s name next to the mark and then sign his or her own name as a witness.