|
What is a Notary Public? A notary practicing in England and
Wales holds an office which is internationally recognised. The signature and
official seal of a Notary are recognised as evidence of a responsible legal
officer in most countries of the world. A Notary mainly acts as an impartial and
legally trained witness to authenticate and certify the execution of documents
required or intended for use outside the UK. You probably know if you need the services
of a Notary Public; it is usually whenever a legal transaction has an
international element. The following is a list of some of the Notarial work
undertaken by MyNotary members; it is provided as an illustration only and not
as a definitive list.
Search for a notary on the home page.
How to use the interactive Google
map. Click on a balloon and ‘view profile’ to
see full contact details and a location map. The notaries depicted by a
balloon are notaries that definitely want to be found! And want your
business. Or use a quick-link from the foot of the
page Or use search by Town or Postcode. The map will either display the location
of any Notaries in the area or ask you to email us to locate one for
you. Note: in Scotland there is no actual published list of notaries. Almost all solicitors may act as a notary. A list of law firms in Scotland can be obtained on The Law Society of Scotland's website at www.lawscot.org.uk . Contacting a Notary Once the relevant Notary has been found,
their name and address is displayed. Some Notary listings also provide
email and website addresses as well as contact telephone numbers and a
description of other services that their respective firms provide. Please
contact the notary directly or email admin@Mynotary.co.uk What proof of Identity is required? In order to maintain the internationally
recognised high standards of Notaries Public, the Notary is required to make
certain checks. Individuals should produce a current passport or, in exceptional
cases, other proof of similar validity and reliability. Other proof could
include certificates of birth, baptism, marriage, divorce, deed poll on change
of name, statutory declaration, full driving licence, National Insurance Card or
some other official document bearing a full name and signature.
Where you are signing on behalf of a company the notary will need to make additional checks, it is often wise to discuss what is required in advance with the Notary. You may have been asked to make sure that
your document is ‘legalised’. Legalisation means that the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office puts a certificate on the document confirming the Notary's
credentials. The Foreign Office certificate, for some countries, is known as an
Apostille and is attached under the terms of the Hague Convention.
We are finding that most documents, other
than certified copies of educational or professional qualifications, do require
to be legalised; certainly most Powers of Attorney and international trade
documents do. If you or your notary is unsure we may be able to help as we
are familiar with the varying requirements of most countries. Please email
any queries to admin@MyNotary.co.uk
For some countries Foreign Office legalisation is not enough and they require a stamp from their own embassy or consulate before the document is legally acceptable abroad. Your notary will advise you what legalisation your document needs, (if any). Why is legalisation necessary? Legalisation is a double check to make sure
that the notary signature is genuine. What happens if the document is not in English? If the documents are in a language other than
English it is possible that the notary will still witness these documents. For example if there is a valid
translation annexed to the deed that is understood by the person signing or if
the notary is fully satisfied that the person signing is conversant with the
language of the document. But if the person signing does not understand the foreign language of the document and there is no English translation attached to it, then it is necessary for the document to be translated by an official legal translator who will then have to sign a statutory declaration certifying that it is a true translation and this declaration itself will have to be witnessed by the notary and sealed. See MyNotary Translation Service. or 'Useful Info' on this site. |