What is a Notary?
A Notary is a qualified lawyer appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Notaries are concerned with the preparation and authentication of documents for use abroad.
A Notary has two significant differences from a Solicitor. Firstly, their duty is to the transaction as a whole and not just to one of the parties. A Notary may therefore act for both parties to a transaction as long as there is no conflict between them and his duty is to ensure that the transaction is fair to both sides.
Secondly, a Notary identifies himself on documents by the use of his individual seal. Such seals are regarded by most other countries as of great importance for establishing the genuineness of a document. A Notary’s seal will be registered with the Foreign and Commonwealth office and with many foreign embassies and consulates.
Using our notary services
If you wish to use our notary services you will need to:
- make an appointment
- bring evidence of identity
- establish that you understand any document particularly a document which is not in English
- bring along any other relevant papers or documents that relate to your matter
We will be happy to provide you with an outline of how our fee will be assessed. This is usually dependent on how long we have to spend on your matter.
