Purpose of a Notary Public The primary role of a notary is to act as an official, impartial witness to the identity of an individual who comes before the notary. A notary’s role in verifying the identity of an individual requesting a notarial act and performing a notarial act in accordance with the requirements of state law and regulation, helps to deter fraud in the execution of various types of documents.

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Verification of Identity Before performing a notarial act, the notary shall determine, from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence, that the person appearing before the notary has the identity claimed. A notary is required to verify the identity of the signer in one of the following ways:

• A notary has personal knowledge of the identity of a person appearing before the notary if the person is personally known to the notary through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the person has the identity claimed.

• A notary has satisfactory evidence of the identity of a person if the notary can identify the person by one of the following:

• A passport, driver's license or government-issued nondriver identification card, or another form of government identification that contains the signature and a photograph of the person and is satisfactory to the notary.

• The identification must be current or expired not more than three years before the performance of the notarial act.

• By a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing before the notary and known to the notary or whom the notary can identify based on a passport, driver's license or government-issued nondriver identification card.

• A notary may require an individual to provide additional information or identification credentials to enable the notary to verify the individual’s identity.