James Mountford is a Solicitor and Partner in Gaby Hardwicke Solicitors, who specialises in wills and probate, and is also a Notary Public.

The Role of the Notary

The role of a solicitor or barrister is well known to the general public but the role of a notary public is a mystery to many, despite notaries being the oldest branch of the legal profession.

The first time you may come across a notary is when carrying out a transaction overseas such as buying or selling property or registering your company with the relevant authorities. The foreign authorities or lawyers will want to ensure the legal documentation is signed by the correct parties. If it is not possible or convenient to travel abroad to sign the documents who can be relied upon to make sure the true parties sign? That responsibility is often delegated to a notary public.

The Notary’s job is to check the identity, understanding, authority and approval of the signatories to the documents, and to be satisfied that execution of the relevant document is entirely voluntary and not the result of any fraud, violence or duress.

Very often it is then necessary to “legalise” the documents via the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The credentials of the notary public are verified by the FCDO, who hold copies of the notary’s signatory and notary seal, by the attachment of an “apostille” to the document. Essentially this is a certificate confirming the notary is legitimately authorised.

Some countries require a further step – legalisation by their own embassy. A notary can deal with this as well.

Note: We regret that for insurance-related reasons, James is unable to notarise or deal with American or Canadian documentation or documentation to be submitted to those countries.

Notarial Tasks

The most common jobs for a notary include:

• Witnessing powers of attorney in connection with the sale and purchase of property overseas;
• Certifying identification documents;
• Signing “life certificates” for those who receive foreign pensions;
• Authenticating educational qualifications;
• Administering oaths and affidavits.

A notary expressly does not give legal advice on the documents being notarised.

Each notarial matter is different and the requirements and timescales will vary according to whether the client is a private individual or a company and according to the processing times of third parties such as the FCDO, legalisation agents, translating agencies and couriers, etc. Some of the typical key stages are likely to include:

• Receiving and reviewing the documents to be notarised together with any instructions the signatory may have received.
• Liaising with the signatory’s legal advisors or other bodies to obtain the necessary documentation to deal with the document (e.g. information from Companies House or foreign registries, powers of attorney etc).
• Checking the identity, capacity and authority of the person who is to sign the document.
• If a document is to be certified, checking with the issuing authorities that the document/award is genuine. In the case of academic awards, this would entail checking with the appropriate academic institutions.
• Meeting with the signatory to verify their identity and to ascertain that they understand what they are signing and that they are doing so of their own free will and ensuring that the document is executed correctly.
• Drafting and affixing or endorsing a notarial certificate to the document.
• Arranging for the legalisation of the document as appropriate.
• Arranging for the storage of copies of all notarised documents in accordance with the requirements of the Notarial Practice Rules 2019.

Price information

James will give you an estimate of his fees at the outset. His notarial work will always be for a fixed fee. His minimum fee for any piece of work is £125 + VAT (£150).

Disbursements such as apostille fees and courier fees will be charged additionally

Regulatory Information

Notaries are regulated by the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and when a notary qualifies they obtain a notary “faculty”, signed by the Archbishop. James’s faculty is pictured below.  Each Notary also has their own unique seal and again James’s seal is pictured, reflecting his passion for running.

Notaries are subject to strict regulation and must renew their Practising Certificate annually, confirming amongst other things that they have an adequate level of insurance and that they have completed sufficient hours of Continuing Professional Education.

James’s notarial practice is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

The Faculty Office
1, The Sanctuary
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JT

Telephone: 020 7222 5381
Email: Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: www.facultyoffice.org.uk

If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received, please do not hesitate to contact James.

If he is unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which James is a member, who have a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute.

In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to:

The Secretary of The Notaries Society
P O Box 876
Chichester
PO19 9ZH

Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk

If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to contact the Notaries Society/the Faculty Office for assistance.

Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Notaries Society Approved Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure, or after a period of 8 weeks from the date you first notified James that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, if you are not happy with the result:

Legal Ombudsman
P O Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within one year from the act/omission or within one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

Neither of the above replaces the regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Ombudsman of all legal services supplied by Gaby Hardwicke, but instead provides an additional layer of regulation exclusively for notary services.  Full details of our complaints procedure are published on our website including time limits and details of how to contact our regulators.