Role of the Notary Public
Notaries form the oldest branch of the legal profession and their origins can be traced back as far as ancient Rome. In those days, they were scribes whose role was to record agreements between traders and merchants; an important role when the majority of the population was illiterate.
Today, a notary public in England & Wales is a specialist lawyer who verifies facts and authenticates documents for use in foreign countries. A notary public may also perform certain types of domestic non-contentious legal work such as conveyancing and probate, but most focus on ‘authentication’ work.
The need to instruct a notary public generally arises from a legal or administrative requirement in a foreign country. Some of the most common notarial activities include:
- Attesting (witnessing) signatures on documents such as powers of attorney, application forms, letters, wills, declarations or statements.
- Administering oaths and declarations in connection with affidavits and statutory declarations.
- Verifying and certifying the authenticity of original or copy documents such as company documents, academic qualifications, criminal records checks and passports.
- Preparing certificates of English law.
In doing so, a notary public will verify each client’s identity, legal capacity and understanding of a document, as well as their authority if signing on behalf of another party such as a company or other organisation. It is critical that a notary public acts with integrity, independence and impartiality because they owe a duty not only to their client, but also to anyone and everyone who may rely on their certification.
A huge range of different documents cross a notary’s desk and both businesses and individuals may need documents notarising for many different reasons, but some of the most common include:
Services For Business
- Setting up a subsidiary or associated company.
- Appointing an authorised agent to act overseas.
- Sale and purchase transactions.
- Tender submissions.
- Confirming the good standing of a company and/or the status of its officers or key employees.
- Submitting evidence for use in foreign court proceedings.
- Enforcing domestic court orders overseas.
Services For Individuals
- Powers of attorney for dealing with foreign property abroad.
- Applying to work abroad or register with a foreign professional body.
- Getting married abroad.
- Sponsoring a friend or relative to visit the UK.
- Adopting a child from a foreign country.
- Making a foreign will or administering a relative’s estate.
- Pursuing or defending foreign court proceedings.
- Consents for children to travel abroad.
Please contact me for initial guidance and advice if you have any questions – I will be glad to help.