International Notarial Services for Individuals
International Notarial Services for Individuals
If you are personally involved in a legal transaction in another country, you may need a Notary Public to witness documents or certify information, so that those documents are valid in the country concerned.
Many countries also require documents to be legalised once they have been signed and sealed by the Notary Public. Legalisation is a further process to ensure that the document is valid in the relevant country.
The requirements for legalisation will depend on the country but will always involve the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It may be necessary for the document also to be legalised by the applicable Consulate or Embassy. The Notary Public can deal with these legalisation requirements on your behalf.
Our Notary Public services include:
- preparing and witnessing powers of attorney for use overseas
- providing documents to deal with the administration of the estates of people who have lived or owned property abroad
- authenticating personal documents and information for immigration or emigration purposes, and to work abroad
- witnessing the signatures on documents
- authenticating the execution of documents
- authenticating the contents of documents
- administration of oaths and declarations
- presenting bills of exchange for acceptance and payment, noting and protesting bills in cases of dishonour and preparing acts of honour
- attending upon the drawing up of bonds
- verifying of translations from foreign languages to English and vice versa.
If the document requiring notarising is already prepared, we will ask for this to be sent to one of our notaries before meeting with you so that it can be checked and amended if appropriate. We understand that time is usually of the essence in these matters and this checking can usually be one within one to two days.
The meeting with the notary will normally last for 30 minutes although may take longer if there is more than one document and/or people involved.
Please contact us directly if you are unsure whether you require a Notary Public or not.
There is often some urgency when Notarial services are required, and our Notaries can usually be available at short notice.
Fees:
Fees are assessed mainly by reference to the time taken for a whole matter and the hourly rates of the notaries are fixed according to their respective levels of experience.
Currently the hourly rates of Louise Long and Rhiannon Russell are £385 and £255 plus VAT respectively. The hourly rate of their assistant Jenny Steggalls is £125. All rates quoted exclude VAT.
The level of fees will depend on the circumstances of the matter. In accordance with the Notarial practice guidelines (which stipulate that fees should be fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case) our fees may also include an additional element reflecting other factors including value, importance, speed, complexities, or special skills. Generally speaking, it is unlikely that the fee for any transaction will be less than £250 plus VAT.
Complaints process:
Notaries are regulated through The Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury
1 The Sanctuary
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JT
Email: [email protected]
Any complaints should be directed to Louise Long in the first instance.
If a complaint cannot be resolved immediately, Louise will refer your complaint to the Notaries Society, of which Louise and Rhiannon are members of, who have a complaints procedure approved by the Faculty Office.
You can also complain to the Notaries Society directly. Complaints should be addressed to Christopher Vaughan, Secretary of The Notaries Society, PO Box 1023 Ipswich IP1 9XB.
Email: [email protected]
After eight weeks from the date the complaint was first made, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH.
Email: [email protected]
Insurance:
All notaries are required to have compulsory professional indemnity insurance. Our insurers details are below:
QBE UK Ltd and CV Starr International (Europe) Ltd with worldwide cover for up to £100,000,000.
