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Useful Info & Fees
Documents we notarise.
Legalisation.
Originals or certified copies; what documents may be legalised?
Foreign language translations of UK documents.
Wills.
Fees & how to pay
Currency Watch
Documents which are to be used overseas often need to be prepared or certified by a notary. Each country has its own requirements as to how legal documents are prepared, executed and certified and this can include a wide range of documents for both companies and individuals alike. Petra Edwards is a qualified notary public and solicitor and can advise on the varying formalities involved.
Petra would be happy to attend on clients personally to oversee the execution of documents requiring notarial attestation, and many major institutions and companies find this the most effective way of dealing with their notarial requirements. Clients are also welcome to attend in person at our Brighton, Uckfield and Seaford Offices.
MyNotary Brighton offers a full legalisation service where documents have an apostille added at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We provide a consular verification service where necessary.
Documents we notarise include:
* Corporate records * Contracts and different types of Declarations * International Affidavits * Sworn Statements * Depositions * Adoption Home Study Reports and related documentation * Documentation in connection with Bills of Exchange * Shipping documentation * Certified Translations * Fingerprinting confirmation * Lost Passports & Birth Certificates * Change of Name * Marriage Certificates & Confirmation of Single Status * Certified Copy Documents * Statutory Declarations * Authentication of identity and signatures * documents in connection with sponsoring relatives from abroad
Legalisation:
For some legal documents to be effective outside the United Kingdom, they must be ‘legalised’. Legalisation is the official confirmation that the signature, seal and stamp of the notary is that of a genuine, practising UK notary public.
Stage one involves the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO): they verify the notary’s signature and attach an ‘Apostille’ to your document or to the Notarial Cover Sheet prepared by the notary.
Stage two: some countries require a further verification process from their embassies or consulates. We can do all this for you, just ask.
Originals or certified copies; what documents may be legalised?
If you want to legalise a certified photocopy of a document you should check with the end users of the document that this is acceptable to them; some documents must be originals. Some time only original documents maybe legalised, sometimes the reverse!
For example : -
Document in connection with getting married abroad: Certificates of No Impediment (CNI) or 'No Trace' letters - only original CNIs and letters issued by the General Register Office confirming that there is no trace of an individual currently being married can be legalised.
Only original death certificates issued by a UK coroner can be legalised.
National Identification Certificates, Association of Chief Police Officer certificates and Disclosure documents: only original with an official signature can be legalised.
UK Educational Documents. Educational documents which are not degrees, diplomas, certificates, qualifications or other awards may be legalised if they have been issued by an educational establishment in the UK. Documents which are degrees, diplomas, certificates, qualifications or other awards can be legalised if they were issued by a recognised educational establishment – we can advise in individual cases.
British passports: Only notarised photocopies of the bio data page of British and foreign passports may be legalised; original passports of any nationality may not be legalised.
Foreign language translations of UK documents:
Foreign documents which require legalisation may be appended to a notarial coversheet, only the notarial certificate is legalised. Alternatively photocopies of foreign documents can be legalised as being true copies of the original document.
MyNotary translation service
Wills:
If you own property overseas it is a good idea to have your Will specifically mention the property and have the Will notarised. Many European countries have an official Registry of Wills; some property owners have separate Wills for their foreign estates. – we can advise in individual cases.
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Fees & how to pay
Petra Edwards will happy provide a quotation on request - please email us.
Payment may be made by card, cash or cheque.
What is a Notary?
The Faculty Office describes a Notary Public as a legal officer of ancient standing. The functions of notaries include the preparation and execution of legal documents for use abroad, attesting the authenticity of deeds and writings and protesting bills of exchange.
The admission and regulation of notaries in England and Wales is one of the functions of the Faculty Office. The jurisdiction was confirmed and enhanced by the Courts and Legal Services Act of 1990 and the Legal Services Act 2007. Both confirmed the Master’s statutory powers to make rules for the regulation of the profession. The Master is the designated regulator for the purposes of the Legal Services Act 2007.
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Regulation and history
Petra Edwards is regulated by the Faculty Office. The Faculty Office can be contacted at: The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT.
The Faculty Office has its origins in the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533. This Act transferred to the Archbishop of Canterbury the power to grant "all manner licences, dispensacions, faculties, composicions, delegacies, rescriptes, instrumentes or wrytynges have byn accustomed to be had at the see of Rome". This jurisdiction was to be administered by the Archbishop's "comissarye" assisted by a "clerke".
Today the Faculty Office is presided over by the Master of the Faculties (as the "comissarye" is now styled) and its day to day administration is the responsibility of the Registrar. Enquiries about its work should be sent to the Registrar rather than to the Archbishop.
Although the Ecclesiastical Licences Act was one of the statutes which created the post-reformation the functions of the Faculty Office extend to both England and Wales (and, in the case of notaries, further afield). Those functions are now threefold: the issue of marriage licences, the regulation of the notarial profession and the awarding by the Archbishop of "Lambeth" Degrees.
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