Things To Know

For acknowledgments and jurats, a notary public is required to obtain satisfactory evidence of the signer's identity. (California Civil Code sections 1185(a) and (b), and 1189; California Government Code section 8202.)

Satisfactory evidence can be any of the following type of identification:

Paper Identification

  1)  These paper identification documents must be current, or have been issued within the previous five years.

• An identification card or driver's license issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles; or

• A United States passport (a U.S. passport need not have a description of the named person); or

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

• Any form of inmate identification issued by a sheriff's department, if the inmate is in custody in a local detention facility.

Other California approved identification cards, consisting of any one of the following, that contain a serial or other identifying number, a photograph of the named person, a description of the named person, and the signature of the named person are also acceptable (California Civil Code sections 1185(b)(3) and (b)(4)):

• 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;

• A driver's license issued by another state or by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue drivers' licenses;

• An identification card issued by another state (this does not include an identification card issued by a Canadian or Mexican public agency);

• A military identification card (some military identification cards do not contain all the required information and cannot be used as identification if all required information is not present);

• An inmate identification card issued by the California Department of Corrections, if the inmate is still in custody; or

• An employee identification card issued by an agency or office of a California city, a California county, a California city and county, or the State of California.

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

2)  The oath of a single credible witness (Notary public must personally know the credible witness) or;

3)  The oaths of two credible witnesses (Notary public doesnt need to personally know either of them). (California Civil Code section 1185(b).)