How does one verify the Jr or Sr on documents? If the Drivers license does not include it, can we still notarize. I am in CA
This is something I have wondered about, and I have looked at various official state and federal websites. I have never found any official law or rule for notaries in any state that requires notaries to handle this any particular way.
I know that Oregon DMV will add or remove suffixes at the driver’s request, no proof needed.
The Social Security Administration ignores suffixes when verifying a person’s name.
The Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, which has been adopted by a number of states, including my state, Vermont, has this commentary:
Identification of an individual based on an identification credential requires some flexibility. For example, it is not uncommon that an individual’s name as used in a record may be a full name, including a full middle name; however, the name of the individual as provided on the identification credential may only use a middle initial or none at all. The inconsistency may be vice versa instead. The notarial officer should recognize these common inconsistencies when performing the identification of an individual. However, if a notarial officer is ultimately uncertain about the identity of the individual, the notarial officer should refuse to perform the notarial act (see Section 8.)
It seems to me even more flexibility is called for when it comes to suffixes, since many states let people add and drop suffixes without having to go through any government process. It is the custom in some families for every one to move up one when an ancestor dies. So if Sr. dies, Jr. becomes Sr. and III becomes Jr.