A Notary Public may be required when dealing with legal matters overseas or transactions with an international element. It is possible that the party receiving a particular document in the other country may require that you sign it in the presence of a Notary Public.

A Notary is a qualified lawyer – a member of a branch of the legal profession in England and Wales that goes back to 1553, when quilled pens and sealing wax were standard tools of the trade!  Notaries are appointed by the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury and are subject to strict regulation. There are only about 750 Notaries in the whole country.

Notaries are primarily concerned with the authentication and certification of signatures, authority and capacity relating to documents for use abroad.  They serve both private and business clients.

The most common tasks include:

• Preparing and authenticating powers of attorney for use overseas

• Dealing with purchase or sale of land and property abroad

• Authenticating foreign wills and providing documents to deal with the administration of the estates of people who are abroad, or owning 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

If you do need to engage the services of a Notary or require any further information, please contact Nicholas E.B. Brown who has an office in Thame at 5A Cornmarket (in Pump Lane), OX9 3DX. 

Call: 07488 275396
Email: nick@nebbrownnotary.co.uk