Identification and the journal

Study notes · 56 practice questions · 34 in the mock pool

Satisfactory evidence

• California removed personal knowledge: an acknowledgment may not be taken on it, however long you have known the signer.
• The three permitted routes — an identification document, one credible witness, or two credible witnesses.
• The currency rule for identification documents, and the four elements a second-list document must carry.
• What counts: California DMV documents, foreign passports, out-of-country driver's licences, tribal identification, inmate identification in state prison, California public employee identification.

Credible witnesses

• What the single credible witness swears to, and what disqualifies one.
• The oath content for two credible witnesses, and how their identification is handled.
• The journal entry required in each case — it differs between the one-witness and two-witness routes.

The journal

• One active sequential journal, kept under the notary's direct and exclusive control, never surrendered to an employer.
• Every required entry: date, time and type of act, character of the instrument, signature of the person, the statement of satisfactory evidence, and the fee charged.
• When a thumbprint is required, and what to do when the right thumb is unavailable.
• Storage of the journal, and what happens if it is lost or seized.