Once the signer has personally appeared before the Notary, the next "cornerstone" is that the Notary must Positively Identify the signer as being the person identified in the document and who has acknowledged that they signed the document. Positive Identification is NOT simply having a valid I.D.
A Hawaii Notary may positively identify a signer by one of three methods:
The Notary has known the signer over a sufficiently long
period of time to have "personal" knowledge that the
person is, indeed, who they say they are. Knowing someone
for a brief period of time and in a limited social or business
situation will probably not qualify as "personal knowledge."
A person who is personally known to the Notary also
personally knows the signer and swears an oath to that
effect. Hawaii allows the use of one (1) credible witness for
which there is a chain of personal knowledge (see above) from
the witness to the Notary to the signer. This is the most difficult
type of Credible Witness requirement to fulfill.
Identification: an act of identifying; the state of being identified;
Identity: the condition of being the same with something described or
Positive: formally laid down or imposed; expressed clearly or
peremptorily; fully assured : CONFIDENT
Hawaii State Law specifies that the identification presented to a Notary MUST bear a photograph and a signature of the individual identified. The I.D. must also be government-issued and must not have expired (if it has an expiration date).
In all Notary Acknowledgement Certificates authorized by the State of Hawaii, the Notary certifies, in part, that a specific person has, at the time of the Notarial Act, appeared before that notary (Personal Appearance). It is the person that personally appears before the Notary that is named in the Notarial Acknowledgment Certificate and must be Positively Identified through personal knowledge, a credible witness, or other acceptable identification. (See Notary FAQ's for the prerequisites for a person to sign for another with a Power of Attorney.)
EXAMPLE:
A man identifying himself as John Robert Jones, appears before a Notary with a document bearing the signature of John Robert Jones and a Notary Acknowledgment Certificate that says John Robert Jones appeared before her, and asks that the Notary notarize the document for him. (For the purpose of this example, the Notary DOES NOT personally know Mr. Jones.)
Mr. Jones presents a current (unexpired) Hawaii Driver's License as identification, The license bears the printed name: JOHN R. JONES. (A Hawaii Driver's License is only one type of identification acceptable for the purpose of positively identifying a document signer.)
The Notary compares the name on the license to the name on the document and, in this example, can go no further because, based on the identification presented, the Notary is unable to positively identify the person appearing before her as John Robert Jones (the "R." on the identification card could stand for any name beginning with that letter). Even though the signature appearing on the license may be the full name, it is the printed name on the identification card that that is used to identify the signer.
In this example, Mr. Jones shows the Notary his Social Security Card, which has the name "John Robert Jones" printed on it. The Notary still may not notarize the document because a Social Security Card is not acceptable under Hawaii law as identification by which a Notary may positively identify a signer. Acceptable identification must have a photograph and a signature, and there is no photograph on a Social Security Card.
The principle followed is that the name on the acceptable identification can, in certain instances, be MORE but, in no circumstance, MAY BE LESS than the name being notarized. In cases where the name on the I.D. contains a "Jr.," "II," or some such indication of generation, then in that case, the name appearing on the document and being signed must also have the same suffix.
Continuing with Mr. John R. Jones as our example, Mr. Jones' signature could be notarized with his current I.D. ONLY IF HE WERE SIGNING AS:
John Jones John R. Jones
He cannot, however, SIGN "John Robert Jones" and have his signature notarized with his I.D. showing the name John Jones or John R. Jones.
