Notary Public Handbook - California Page 10
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GENERAL INFORMATION
association with the individual in relation to other people and based upon a chain of
circumstances surrounding the individual, which establishes the individual’s identity with at
least reasonable certainty (Civil Code section 1185(b)).
Satisfactory Evidence – “Satisfactory Evidence” means the absence of any information,
evidence, or other circumstances which would lead a reasonable person to believe that the
individual is not the individual he or she claims to be and (A) Paper Identification Documents
or (B) the oath of a single credible witness or (C) the oaths of two credible witnesses, as
specified below:
A. Paper Identification Documents – Identity of the signer can be established by the
notary public’s reasonable reliance on the presentation of any one of the following documents,
provided that the identification document is current or has been issued within five years
(Civil Code section 1185(c)(3) & (4)):
1. An identification card or driver’s license issued by the California Department of Motor
Vehicles;
2. A United States passport;
3. Other State-approved identification card, consisting of any one of the following, provided
that it also contains a photograph, description of the person, signature of the person, and
an identifying number –
(a) A passport issued by a foreign government, provided that it has been stamped by the
U.S. Immigration or Naturalization Service or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services;
(b) A driver’s license issued by another state or by a Canadian or Mexican public agency
authorized to issue drivers’ licenses;
(c) An identification card issued by another state;
(d) A military identification card;
(e) An inmate identification card issued by California Department of Corrections, if the
inmate is in custody.
NOTE: The notary public must include in his or her journal the type of identifying
document, the governmental agency issuing the document, the serial or identifying number
of the document, and the date of issue or expiration of the document that was used to
establish the identity of the signer (Government Code section 8206(a)(2)(D)).
B. Oath of a Single Credible Witness – The identity of the signer can be established by
the oath of a single credible witness whom the notary public personally knows (Civil Code
section 1185(c)(1)). Under oath, the credible witness must swear or affirm under penalty of
perjury that each of the following is true (Civil Code section 1185(c)(1)(A)-(E)):
1. The individual appearing before the notary as the signer of the document is the person
named in the document;
2. The credible witness personally knows the signer;
3. 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;
4. The signer does not possess any of the identification documents authorized by law to
establish the signer’s identity;
5. The credible witness does not have a financial interest and is not named in the document
signed.
NOTE: The single credible witness must sign the notary public’s journal (Government
Code section 8206(a)(2)(D)). No paper identification document is used since the notary
personally knows the single credible witness (Civil Code section 1185(c)(1)).
C. Oaths of Two Credible Witnesses – The identity of the signer can be established by the
oaths of two credible witnesses whom the notary public does not personally know (Civil
Code section 1185(c)(2)). However, in such a case, the notary public must first establish the
identities of the two credible witnesses by the presentation of paper identification documents
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