Understanding California's 2023 Notary Public Handbook (Part 4)

This is Part 4 of a series where I am sharing my experience and notes from reading the the evaluation of the California Notary Public Handbook, a tool written to assist in the interpretation of the various Codes that impact the work of a notary public in California.

In Part 1, we examined notes in the categories of the timeline of the application, the locations in which a notary may practice, and the location of the relevant codification in the California Government code.

In Part 2, we looked at the section on Notary seals; including where to keep them, embosser-style seals, and exceptions to using a seal.

In Part 3, we touched on repercussions, identification, and the note on journal notes.

I'm looking forward to continuing and I'm glad you've come along for the ride!

Note 10: Credible Witnesses

While I did not highlight anything specific in this section, I did re-write in the margins what my understanding was of what was shared. If you're not paying close attention while reading this part, it can really make your head spin.

From my understanding of "B. Oath of Single Credible Witness" and "C. Oaths of two Credible Witnesses" boils down to the following:

One witness is needed if you, the notary, know the person vouching for the signer. The vouching person must either sign the journal OR present the notary with an ID. (My questions: Why not both? Can I request and/or require both in my process?)

Two witnesses is where I get confused. My notes say: Two witnesses are required if you, the notary, do not know either of the people vouching for the signer. These vouchers must sign the journal AND provide the notary with an ID.

However, I recall reading or listening to a video where it seemed to indicate that there needed to be a chain of personal knowledge from the notary to the witnesses. Perhaps that was in the case of signing-by-proxy. I feel like I'm going to need to create a nice, pictorial flow chart for what I would consider non-standard methods of identifying individuals.

Note 11: More Code

At the bottom of the pages is where I'm adding the notes about the various aspects that I need to dig in and do more research on. As mentioned in Part 1, there are code references at the end of certain sections. For the Identification types, the code is not the Government Code, but instead the Civil Code that needs to be references. I have made a specific note about that, as well as finding that the applicable code is referenced at the end of the document. I will also need to verify that the code that is included as references at the end of the Handbook is ALL of the code referenced. While I believe the Secretary of State is diligent in their duties, I hold a similar view to data, research, and information as Former President Ronald Regan; "Doveryai, no proveryai," Trust, but verify.

The note I have for this section is "read Civil Code 1180" Most of this section is on proper identification and witnesses, with the code referenced being locations of Civil Code 1185. It looks like my notes are a little overzealous and I have crossed out my original number and added the appropriate one. I will definitely be going over these pages more than once.

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This is the end of Part 4 of a multi-part series of articles on my notes and impressions of the California 2023 Notary Public Handbook.

Part 1 can be found here; Understanding California's 2023 Notary Public Handbook (Part 1)

Part 2 can be found here: Understanding California's 2023 Notary Public Handbook (Part 2)

Part 3 can be found here: Understanding California's 2023 Notary Public Handbook (Part 3)

Part 5 should be available with in the week.

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