A California notary public is notarizing a document signed by mark for a signer who cannot write their name. The signer is properly identified by satisfactory evidence, and two people witness the mark on the document. Which additional step is required for the notarization to comply with the signature-by-mark rules?
Only one witness is required to sign the journal for a signature by mark.
Two witnesses are required for a signature by mark, not one.
This is correct because the handbook requires that the signer by mark include their mark in the notary public journal. To qualify as a signature, the making of the mark in the journal must be witnessed by an individual who writes the person’s name next to the mark and then signs their own name as a witness.
A subscribing witness certificate is not required for signature-by-mark notarizations.
Explanation
The signer by mark must include their mark in the notary public journal, and for that mark to qualify as a signature in the journal, an individual must witness the making of the mark, write the signer’s name next to the mark, and sign as a witness. The handbook also states that the two document witnesses do not have to be identified by the notary or sign the journal unless they are acting as credible witnesses to establish identity. On the document itself, two witnesses must subscribe their own names, and one witness should write the signer’s name next to the mark and then sign as a witness.
— Civil Code sections 14 and 1185