Notary Public

Notaries Public

Both Isabel and James are qualified lawyers, but as Notaries Public they are members of the third and oldest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales. Their independent practices as Notaries are carried on in conjunction with the main legal practice of Paris Smith in compliance with the Notaries Practice Rules 2019.

Notaries are appointed by the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury and are subject to regulation by the Master of the Faculties. The rules which affect Notaries are very similar to the rules which affect Solicitors. They must be fully insured and maintain fidelity cover for the protection of their clients and the public. They must keep clients’ money separately from their own and comply with stringent practice rules and rules relating to conduct and discipline. Notaries have to renew their practising certificates every year and can only do so if they have complied with the rules.

What do Notaries do?

Notaries are primarily concerned with the authentication and certification of signatures, authority and capacity relating to documents for use abroad. Some of the most common tasks that Notaries are asked to perform are:

• preparing and authenticating powers of attorney for use overseas;
• dealing with purchase or sale of land and property abroad;
• authenticating personal documents and information for immigration or emigration purposes, or to apply to marry or to work abroad, such as education or professional qualifications or declarations of freedom to marry;
• authenticating company and business documents and transactions or providing certificates as to the status of a company or the identity of its directors; and
• arranging for the legalisation of documentation by way of an apostille or consular stamp.

We can also provide authentication and a secure record for almost any sort of transaction, document or event.