Jane Propert

Public Notary

​

What are the duties of a Notary Public?

Unlike solicitors and barristers in the UK whose duties are to their clients, a Notary Public has a duty to the document he is notarising and not the person presenting the document.

 

What sort of Notary services do you provide?

We always make an effort to accommodate our clients who need our services we can provide notarial services at a very short notice to clients who need to provide documents urgently abroad.

Our Notary Public will assess your needs and advise you accordingly to ensure that the authentication of the document will be recognised by foreign authorities.

 

What is Legalisation (Apostille) Services?

The Foreign authorities want to know whether the document notarised by the Notary Public is genuine. There are unfortunately bogus individuals who purport to be Notary Public.

The foreign authorities want to reduce risk by insisting that your document is legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London (FCO) and sometimes also by the UK embassy of the country where you are going to use the documents.

 

Do I need legalisation for the country where my document is going to be used?

It all depends on the country in which you are going to use the document, for example, a Spanish Power of Attorney will always have to be legalised by the Foreign Office and no need for the same to be sent to Spanish embassy in the UK.

Our Notary will advise you as to whether you need to legalise the document in the country where you are using the document.

Please ask your lawyer abroad to let you know whether you require this service.

​

How much do you charge for the Notary services?

We charge based on the number of documents we notarise and typically the costs of a document, simple documents are easier to process than others, and in some cases drafting is required, there can also be third party costs, such as Foreign Embassy costs, Apostille Costs, and courier services.  We can give you a much more accurate costing once we know what has to be done.
 

For the legalisation services, please ask our notary for the charges, this will depend on the number of documents and how quickly you want to utilise the services.

 

What are the identification requirements?

We would expect you to produce your current and valid passport or driving license as proof of identification.

In some instances, we will also require you to produce evidence of residence by way of a bank statement or utility bill issued to you.