Our Services
Notary Public London Services
Notary Public London Services
Introduction to our Services
A Notary Public, is a legally appointed officer whose public office is recognised world wide. London Notary Public practice M D Pryke provides a full range of services such as; legalising documents, affidavits, witnessing documents and general apostille work, and has the experience and expertise to deal with complex notarial matters at short notice.
The role of a Notary Public is to verify, corroborate, prepare and certify legal documents for global use. Every London Notary Public has both a unique signature and an official seal which ‘stamps’ such documents as official. In other words, officials in any country in the world will accept the documents in good faith once a UK Notary Public has testified to their veracity.
For many Notary clients, their first experience of needing notarial services arises when doing business abroad or with non UK companies. A Notary Public mainly acts independently of the parties to the transaction and is legally trained to witness and verify the correct implementation and execution of the relevant paperwork for it’s subsequent use either domestically or outside the United Kingdom.
The process of authentication usually involves the following:
Notarisation:
- This is the term used to describe how a Notary Public witnesses and certifies the execution of the document or confirms a legal principle or fact. Often notarisation requires the Notary Public to draft a specific and suitable notarial certificate.
Legalisation or Apostille Legalisation:
- The legalisation department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office certifies that the Notary Public is a duly appointed and fully qualified UK Notary by attaching an Apostille (or legalisation certificate) to the notarised document.
- The Consulate of the country where the notarised document is to be effective may certify either that the Notary Public is a duly appointed and fully qualified UK Notary or that the Apostille is authentic and has been issued by the legalisation department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Services
FAQs
What Functions Does A Notary Public London Perform?
The functions performed by a Notary Public London and the documents requiring notarisation vary widely. However the most common functions performed by a Notary are:
- Authenticating signatures on legal documents. For example a Notary may witness the correct execution for non UK use of a power of attorney.
- To verify the identity of a document signatory and ensure the person has the requisite authority.
- Verify and certify facts such as the true status of a company or that a copy of a document is a fair copy of its original.
When Might I Need A Notary Public?
You will need a Notary Public London if:
- You need authorisation of documents and information that will be used in foreign countries.
- You want to buy a property abroad.
- You need legalisation of certain documents.
- You have business overseas or your business is exporting goods abroad.
- You are registering trade marks in international jurisdictions.
- You are involved in litigation in foreign courts.
When Should I Contact A Notary Public?
Ideally, a Notary Public should be contacted as soon as possible. Different countries can demand wildly different notarial procedures and it is often necessary to obtain further authentication from the FCO or other Consulate bodies. A Notary Public may practice in London but his official signature and Notary seal is recognised and accepted by the vast majority of nation states world wide.
What Should I Do Before Seeing A Notary?
Preparing to meet the Notary Public London
Obviously, each notarial matter is unique but normally your Notary Public London will:
- Require their client to arrange an appointment with the Notary Public practice in advance.
- Expect their client to bring evidence confirming their identity. Most often this will be a current passport and a bank statement or utility bill to confirm their address (not a mobile phone bill).
- Need to satisfy themselves that their client truly understands the relevant document, especially a document that is written in a foreign language.
- Need to view any relevant documents relating to the notarial matter, wherever possible.
Please note!
It helps the notary a great deal if the client can e-mail or fax them a copy of the document in advance of their appointment.
How Long Will The Meeting With the Notary Public Last?
Provided that the document is relatively uncomplicated, has already been prepared in the proper manner then the meeting with the Notary Public will probably last for a approximately twenty minutes and the Notary should be able to complete the business in about thirty minutes. If the Notary Public has to draw up the initial document or else make a copy then clearly, the procedure will take longer.
Some nations require that the relevant documents be countersigned by their official Embassies and Consulates in London. This process is referred to as legalisation and can take a few days unless the client is prepared to personally transport them to the relevant Embassy and queue. The cost and procedural nuances in this eventuality can vary to a large extent. The London Notary, however, will be able to provide an estimate of the time and subsequent costs involved.
When Can I See A Notary?
Notary Publics keep standard office hours. However at M D Pryke Notary Public we pride ourselves on remaining flexible to meet the needs of any situation. We will therefore make arrangements to visit our clients outside of working hours if it is essential. However this may incur additional notary fees and potentially take longer. Please contact us immediately to discuss.
How Much Does it Cost?
We work to fixed fee Notary Fees and are happy to provide a free quote for Notary fees and legalisation fees. There are no set notary fees, although Notarial regulations and the Faculty Office state that Notaries must charge an appropriate fee to enable them to act properly. Notaries are obliged to conduct themselves according to Faculty Office regulations. A Notary should be capable of giving prior notice of his charges. With regards to more complicated matters, the Notary Public will inform his client how his fee is assessed. Most often, this will be calculated on the length of time the matter will last.
For further details of the fees charged for each matter please refer to the separate Notary fees page. Should you wish to discuss the full range of Notary Services supplied by Matthew Pryke please contact his office for some straightforward advice.