Notary Public

What is a Notary Public?

If you plan to do any of the following, you may need the services of a Notary Public:

• Buy or sell land or property outside the UK
• Emigrate
• Marry abroad
• Work in another country.

There are also many other occasions when you may need the services of a Notary Public.

A Notary Public is an internationally recognised role and is not the same as a solicitor. A Notary Public is a specially trained and qualified lawyer who is permitted to authenticate and certify the execution of documents for use outside the UK. These may include certificates of qualification, identification and marital status or official company documents and agreements. A Notary Public mainly acts as an impartial and legally trained witness to ensure documents comply with official requirements overseas.

Regulatory Information

Simon Acworth, a Notary Public since 1983, is to our knowledge the only Notary in the Alton area. He is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury www.facultyoffice.org.uk and is a member of The Notaries Society. He is able to notarise, certify and authenticate many different types of documents for individuals, companies and other organisations for use abroad.

If you wish to discuss notary with us, please call Simon Acworth on 01420 81276 or fill in the form below.

Notarial Services Provided

Notarial Services we provide include:

For Individuals

• Witnessing the execution and signature of documents.
• Authenticating the contents and execution of documents.
• Verification and certification of documents including passports, qualification certificates and criminal record checks.
• Arranging for documents to be legalised (Apostilled) by UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office including original UK birth, marriage, death and civil partnership certificates.
• Witnessing the execution and signature of documents required in connection with international adoption or surrogacy agreements.
• Witnessing the execution and signature of documents required in connection with getting married abroad.
• Witnessing the execution and signature of Powers of Attorney required in connection with the purchase and sale of property outside the UK.

For Businesses

• Certifying company documents, including, Certificates of Incorporation, Memorandum & Articles of Association, company records, appointments, resolutions, minutes and financial statements for use abroad.
• Witnessing the execution and signature of Powers of Attorney or declarations by Directors or other proper officers on behalf of a limited company or LLP required for use abroad.
• Verification and certification of documents including passports for Directors or other proper officers on behalf of a limited company or LLP for use abroad.

What is the process?

When you make an enquiry, we will ask you the following questions:

• What documents are involved?
• How many need to be witnessed and/or certified?
• How many people need to sign the documents?
• Which country are the papers going to?
• Is an Apostille (stamped official certificate) from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) needed?

We will then send you an email asking initially for copies of the documents and relevant identification (on the basis that the original documents and identification will need to be produced later). Once these are received and you have confirmed whether or not an Apostille is required, our Notary will be able to provide a quote, together with our client care information and terms. If you are happy with this, he will proceed.

If an Apostille is not required, notarisation could take place the same day if our Notary has availability and has received all the necessary paperwork from you.

If an Apostille is required from the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, notarisation could take a week or more (depending on the FCDO’s timescales). You will need to pay a separate fee for the Apostille direct to the FCDO before you see our Notary.

At your appointment you will sign any necessary documents, produce your original ID documents and pay our fee. If an Apostille is required then our Notary will send the documents to the FCDO.

Fees

We will provide you with a fixed fee quote for the provision of our services before starting work. Our fees will depend on a number of factors including the type of document, the number of documents involved and the number of parties involved. The minimum fee is £100 plus VAT at 20%.

Some countries require confirmation that the Notary is duly authorised in England and Wales to act as a Notary Public. This is done by a process known as legalisation which involves additional fees. The process involves sending the completed document to the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office where an additional certificate is added, together with the seal of the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office which confirms that the signature of the Notary is genuine. This certificate is known as an Apostille. We will provide you with details of those other fees at the time of providing you with our fixed fee quote.

Timescales vary depending on the Notary Service provided.

Insurance

For the protection of their clients and the public, our Notary Services are included in the policy of professional indemnity maintained by Downie & Gadban, which provides cover of a minimum of £2 million.

Complaints

In the unlikely event you have a complaint about our Notarial Services, please raise it with Simon Acworth in the first instance. Simon will seek to resolve your complaint using his Notarial Services complaints procedure. Please see the Compliance & Complaints (Notarial Services) policy for further details.

www.downieandgadban.co.uk/notarial-compliance-and-complaints