What if I don’t have a driver’s license or it’s expired?

What happens if you have an expired driver's license and no other identification, can you still notarize a document?  In our last blog post, we discussed the 2021 DMV expiration date rules which are good news for many of us.

But what if you don’t have a license or it is definitely expired?  This happens often with seniors who decide they don’t want to renew their license because they don’t drive anymore.  Here, it’s important to get a California Senior ID so you have something to use for things like notarizations. Next, we would see if you have a passport (even an international one), military ID or veteran’s card; or, a permanent resident card.  The ID needs to be a government issued photo ID.

Without it, we would arrange for two credible witnesses that would essentially vouch for the signer.  They should not have a conflict or be mentioned in the document to be signed, should know the signer and know that they can’t produce identification.  These credible witnesses would show our notary their own unexpired ID and sign our notary book at the appointment for the notarization to take place.