Welcome to notarypublicwestmidlands.com

What is a Notary?

A Notary is a qualified lawyer who holds an internationally recognised public office. His signature and seal is accepted as evidence of his status in almost all countries.

Notaries belong to the oldest legal profession in England and are appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and governed by the rules of the Court of Faculties. Where a Notary also practises as a solicitor, the rules require a notary practice to be independent and separate from a solicitor’s practice.

The functions of a Notary differ to those of a solicitor. Whereas a solicitor is authorised to draft and execute documents for use in England and Wales, a Notary serves as a specialist to prepare and notarise documents for use abroad.

It may be noted that even within the United Kingdom, a Notarial act or instrument has been accorded greater weight as authentic evidence (Civil Procedure Rule 32.20). Therefore, notarial services may also be considered for documents to be used in this country

Why use a Notary?

You may need to use a Notary public to do the folowing

• get a certified copy of a passport
• certify copies of other documents such as examination certificates
• buy or sell property abroad
• transfer property
• set up a Power of Attorney for use abroad
• make a statutory declaration or swear an oath or affidavit
• confirm your single status in order to marry abroad
• obtain duplicate documents for lost passports or your other important documents
• get an Apostille or legalisation
• have your contracts authenticated by a notary
• have a commercial translation certified by a notary
• assign patents, trade marks or domain names
• any other documents for use abroad, which require a notary stamp