Once again I’ve received a phone call from someone who needs a document notarized, but the
person is in a hospital, nursing home or otherwise incapacitated.  While I feel for the urgent needs of the people involved, I MUST have appropriate ID to verify the person signing the document is the correct, legal signer.“How about their hospital record?”  They have their Medicare card.”  “Can you use ---?”Unfortunately, none of those will work.  In order to correctly identify that the signer is who they say they are, I must have either a state-issued driver license or Identification Card, a Federal Passport, “Green card”, or other government-issued identifier containing both a picture and the signature of the party.  Now, I am not inflexible, and the State of Oklahoma leaves the specifics a little vague as to what constitutes identification, but just because someone says they are whomever, doesn’t mean that is true.  I know of a case where a child was taken by the noncustodial parent to an event which the custodial parent did not approve of, and the document presented at the event was signed by another person as being the custodial parent.  That’s illegal.  The document was notarized by someone who apparently is not as aware of the seriousness of the position of Notary Public as I am, or chose to ignore the law.
The position of Notary Public is considered on the same level as that of an attorney, judge, legislator or other officer of the court.  An oath is sworn to uphold the laws of the land, and it is the responsibility of the Notary to know those laws.  Oftentimes a notary is asked to “just stamp” the document.  That is oh, so wrong.  The notary seal is a serious object, requiring care to keep it for only its appropriate use.  It is not a decoration.  While it does not make a document legal, by placing a seal on that document, the Notary denotes that the person who acknowledged or swore to the facts of the document is the actual, legal person who is making the statements contained in the document. Any other use is outside the law.