In California, the identity of the signer can be established by the oaths of two credible witnesses whom the notary public does not personally know*. The notary public first must establish the identities of the two credible witnesses by the presentation of an acceptable form of identification. Under oath, the credible witnesses must swear or affirm under penalty of perjury to each of the following things:

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.

Note: The credible witnesses must sign the notary public’s journal and the notary public must indicate in his or her journal the type of identifying documents, the identifying numbers of the documents, and the dates of issuance or expiration of the documents presented by the witnesses to establish their identities**.

 

* (Civil Code section 1185(b)(2))

**(Government Code section 8206(a)(2)(E))