What identification I will accept

Each signer needs satisfactory identification before I perform the act. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 121.005, and the Secretary of State's rule in 1 Texas Administrative Code § 87.40, let me accept a current identification card, or another current document, issued by the federal government or a state government, when it shows your photograph and your signature. These are the cards that meet that rule:

• A driver's license from Texas or any other U.S. state
• A state identification card from Texas or any other U.S. state
• A United States passport
• A United States passport card
• A United States military identification card that shows a photograph and a signature
• A permanent resident card that shows a photograph and a signature

Another current card issued by the federal government or a U.S. state is acceptable only when it also shows the photograph and the signature. I compare the card to the person in front of me. A photocopy of a card, a photo of a card on a phone, and a card that belongs to someone else are not identification.

I do not accept:

• An expired card
• A card that is torn, altered, or too worn to read
• A school identification card
• A work badge
• A Social Security card
• A birth certificate
• A credit card

The name on the identification has to be the name on the document. If the document says a nickname, a former name, or a name with a different middle name or suffix, and the card does not, I do not treat those as the same person. I do not tell you how to change the document. Ask the office that prepared it, or an attorney, before the appointment. I am not an attorney, and I do not give legal advice.

I do not copy the identification number into my journal. Government Code § 406.014 and 1 Texas Administrative Code § 87.50 prohibit an identification number and a fingerprint in the record book. I record the type of identification that was presented. The number on the card stays on the card.

There are two other ways 1 Texas Administrative Code § 87.40 allows me to be satisfied, and neither is the ordinary appointment. If I already know you, from a real association over time, I may rely on that personal knowledge. Someone who looks familiar, or a friend who introduces you when I arrive, is not personal knowledge. If you have no satisfactory identification and I do not know you, a credible witness may swear to your identity. That person has to know you, and has to be someone I know or someone who has a current government photo ID of their own. I do not bring a credible witness. You would have to arrange that person before we meet. A current photo ID is the straightforward way.

If the identification is missing, expired, or not satisfactory, I do not perform the act. There is no charge. Bring the card to a hospital room or a jail the same way you would bring it to a house. If the facility will not allow the card to be shown, tell me before we set the time. I still have to be satisfied that the person in front of me is the signer. Government Code § 406.0091 requires personal appearance.