What is a signature by mark?
A signature by Mark is when a person cannot write his or her name but can still acknowledge his or her signature on a document or subscribe and swear to an affidavit by making a mark. (California Civil Code section 14.)
Steps required to perform a successful signature by mark notarization:
To perform a notarization with a signature by mark, the notary public still performs the steps required for the appropriate notarial act, such as an acknowledgment or jurat.
The notary public must use the appropriate form as well. The notary public must confirm the identity of the person making the mark by satisfactory evidence. (California Civil Code section 1185.)
The notary public also must perform the following additional steps: If the signer must acknowledge his or her signature on a document, the signer can make a mark where his or her signature should be in the presence of the notary public or can acknowledge that the mark in the place for a signature is his or her mark.
Note that the “mark” does not need to be an “X.” If the signer is subscribing and swearing to an affidavit, the signer must make a mark where his or her signature should be in the presence of the notary public. Note that the “mark” does not need to be an “X.” The mark may be a symbol, thumbprint, etc.
Two witnesses must observe the signer making their mark and must sign their names next to the signer’s mark on the document. One of the witnesses must write the signer's name, making the mark next to the signer’s mark.
The signer also must make his or her mark as the required signature in the notary public’s journal. The making of the mark in the notary public’s journal must be witnessed by a person who must write the signer's name next to the mark and then sign his or her own as a witness.
The witnesses only verify that they witnessed the individual make his or her mark. A notary public is not required to identify the two persons who witnessed the signing by mark or to have the two witnesses sign the notary public’s journal.
Exception: If the witnesses were acting in the capacity of credible witnesses in establishing the identity of the person signing by mark, then the witnesses’ signatures must be entered in the notary public’s journal.