General
What is a Notary Public?
A Notary Public is a qualified lawyer – a member of the third and oldest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales. In England and Wales, notaries are appointed and regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
What does a Notary Public do?
A Notary Public is an independent public officer who is primarily concerned with the authentication and certification of documents for use abroad. A Notary Public’s key function will normally be to ‘notarise’ a document for a client. This requires that the Notary Public has authenticated the document having first undertaken the required level of checks. The recipient of the document needs to be able to trust and have confidence in the authenticity of the document that they receive and the Notary’s signature and seal inspires this confidence as the work of a Notary Public is recognised worldwide.
Why might you need to see a Notary Public?
Broadly speaking, the requirement for you to use a Notary Public will arise if you or your business are involved with a matter outside of the UK. For example, if you are an individual or business with assets and/or legal interests abroad you may need to sign documents in this country and then send them overseas.
There are a broad range of situations in which you may need to use the services of a Notary Public which are covered in Our Services.
What is the difference between a Solicitor and a Notary Public?
A UK Notary Public is usually someone that either is or at some point has been a Solicitor at some point in their career. They are therefore legally trained. In addition to their legal training as Solicitors, Notaries are required to train and qualify by obtaining the necessary professional qualifications and then undergoing a period of supervision.
Notaries are trained in the process of authenticating documents in a manner required to ensure their acceptance overseas. A Solicitor is not specifically trained to authenticate documents in the same way as a Notary Public.
Documents that are to be used abroad are often used in countries where the legal systems are different to the common law system we have in the in the UK and where the role and status of the Solicitor is not recognised. Due to the unique history and role of the Notary Public (Notaries were first used during the period of the Roman Empire) their status and work is recognised all across the world regardless of the legal system in place.
How do I know if I need to use a Notary Public or a Solicitor?
Usually you will have been sent a letter or email of instruction advising you as to who you need to see regarding your document by the person or business who has asked for your document to be authenticated. If you haven’t you may wish to check with such person or business. If in doubt, you should contact a Notary Public to check this.
Why is it important that a document is authenticated by a Notary Public rather than a Solicitor?
If a document is authenticated by a Solicitor instead of a Notary in circumstances where it needed to be dealt with by a Notary Public it is likely that the document will be rejected when it is received by the intended recipient. In such circumstances the process needs to be re-started this time using a Notary Public instead of a Solicitor and can therefore result in delay in getting the document accepted.
My document refers to the need to be signed before a Commissioner for Oaths – can a Notary help?
Yes – a Notary Public is a Commissioner for Oaths and can therefore deal with any documents which require witnessing by a Commissioner for Oaths.
Do documents for use abroad need to be notarised?
As a rule of thumb, if the document is to be used abroad, you will probably need to see a Notary Public, if it is to be used in the UK you may be able to see a Solicitor. However the best starting point is to enquire with the intended recipient of the document (or if applicable, your adviser) to find out what their requirements are.
Do I need to make an appointment to see the Notary Public?
It is advisable to make an appointment to see Sukhpal to avoid delay in case he has other appointments. He is usually able to offer appointments within 24-48 hours.
Can the Notary Public come and see me?
Sukhpal is happy to travel to meetings with clients in the areas in which we operate. A fee is charged for this which will vary depending on the length of the journey.
Apostille and Legalisation
What is legalisation?
Legalisation is the process of authenticating or certifying a document so that a foreign country’s legal system will recognize it as having full legal effect.
In many cases, your documents may not only require to be notarised but also legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (by way of apostille) and/or by the embassy of the country where the documents will be used.
If your documents need to be legalised or apostilled we can liaise with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the appropriate embassy or consulate on your behalf.
We appreciate that our clients often require this work to be done in a hurry or do not have the time to deal with the legalisation process. We can therefore handle all of these steps for you and can also take steps to expedite the process where required.
What is an apostille?
An apostille is a form of certificate which is used among the countries that have signed up to the Hague Convention 1961 to get the certification recognized in those countries. Apostille is an easier way to verify and legalise a document between the countries. However, this method of legalisation can only be used in respect of countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention.
When a country issues an apostille for a document intended to be used in some other country which is a signatory to the Hague Convention, then no further authentication of such document should be required. The authority receiving the document should accept the legalisation as complete.
In the United Kingdom, apostilles are issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office based in Milton Keynes.
How long does it take to obtain an apostille?
Using our legalisation service we are usually able to apostille a document within 2 working days of notarising the document. This doesn’t include postage or delivery times and also during peak periods at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this timeline is subject to change.
What is Consular legalisation?
A significant number of countries have signed up to the Hague Convention but there are still some countries which are not a party to it – the UAE being an example of this. In such cases, there is often a need to have the documents you have had notarised legalised at the embassy of the country in which the documents are to be used.
Where consular legalisation is needed normally the notarised documents will require both to be apostilled and legalised at the consulate of the country in which the documents are to be used.
E-notarisation and e-apostille
We are delighted to be able to offer our clients a full e-notarisation and e-apostille service.
What is e-notarisation?
E-notarisation refers to a completely digital method of signing and notarising a document. With the increased use of technology many of us will have become used to signing documents digitally using one of the many digital signature platforms. E-notarisation takes this a step further by allowing the notary to prepare any document or form etc. so that the client can sign it digitally and, crucially, allow the notary to also digitally sign, seal and stamp the document digitally. In doing so this process serves to reduce the need to print documents thereby reducing the carbon footprint.
As the notarisation of documents is a centuries old process, it will take time for the switch to digital to be embraced in different countries and legal systems. We therefore recommend to our clients to check with the intended recipient first to see if they will accept an e-notarised document in advance of instructing us.
What is e-apostille?
E-apostille is the process of achieving a digital apostille on a document that has been e-notarised. Like the paper form of apostille, the e-apostille is issued in the United Kingdom by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
A key benefit of e-apostille is that it avoids the delay and cost of having to send documents by courier and post to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then wait for them to be delivered back. Instead the e-notarised document is submitted by the notary online and returned in the same way with the addition of the e-apostille.
If you have any questions or comments about e-notarisation or e-apostille please contact us at info@apexnotaries.co.uk
When are we open?
Our offices are open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5.30pm (GMT). We are contactable outside of these hours by email (info@apexnotaries.co.uk) and on WhatsApp or SMS (+44 7827964013) although there may be a delay in response times outside of our normal operating hours. Meetings at our offices are by appointment only. To avoid disappointment please contact us at info@apexnotaries.co.uk or at +44 (0)333 0913776 to make an appointment.
Redress
Sukhpal Matharoo Notary Public has in place professional indemnity insurance arising in respect of any act or omission, for a sum at or greater than the minimum level of cover prescribed by the Master of Faculties of £1,000,000.
Complaints Information
If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received, please do not hesitate to contact Sukhpal Matharoo.
Sukhpal’s notarial practise is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Faculty Office 1, The Sanctuary, Westminster, and London SW1P 3JT
Tel: +44 (0)20 7222 5381
Email: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk
If Sukhpal is unable to resolve any issues, you may then complain to The Notaries Society, of which he is a member, who have a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute. In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to:
The Secretary of The Notaries Society, PO Box 7655, Milton Keynes MK11 9NR
secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk
If you have any difficulty making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call the Notaries Society/The Faculty Office for assistance.
Even if you have your complaint considered under the Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure, or after a period of eight weeks from the date you first notified us that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result:
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
Tel: +44 (0)300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Finally, if you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer to the Legal Ombudsman within one year from the act/omission or within one year from when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint.