Notarizing for a person who does not have valid identification

Occasionally, a notary is asked to notarize the signature of a person who does not have and cannot obtain, acceptable identification. This most often occurs when the person is an elderly person, a minor child, or a person with a disability. Florida law provides an additional method of identification for these situations:

The sworn written statement of two credible witnesses whose identities are proven to the notary and who personally know the signer.

Please note, with this method the witnesses must personally know the person whose signature is being notarized and must make a sworn written statement and the witnesses must have acceptable identification.

Keep in mind that these provisions are for the purpose of identifying certain people who do not have other identification and do not replace the “presence” requirement. The person whose signature is being notarized must be present at the time of the notarization.