Notaries are appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and are regulated by the Faculty Office.
A key part of a notary’s role is validating and authenticating documents for use in other parts of the world. These documents are usually of a legal nature. The notary must also provide documentary evidence that the documents in question have been authenticated, usually in the form of a notarial certificate which may be used in or required by a foreign court or other official body.
Anna Cattee is CMP Legal’s resident Notary, who is a solicitor as well as a Notary Public. Anna is an executive director in our company commercial department.
Notarial Services for Individuals
As the number of people who work, live and invest abroad has grown over the years, so has the need for notaries. Here are some examples of how Anna can help:
- Certifying university degree certificates and educational qualifications for use with foreign job applications;
- Witnessing powers of attorney for use overseas. This is a common requirement for individuals purchasing or selling property abroad;
- Preparing certificates of freedom to marry where individuals wish to celebrate their marriage abroad;
- Notarising documents to deal with the administration of the estates of people who are located abroad, such as birth, marriage and death certificates;
- Execution of wills for jurisdictions that require a notary, for example Spain and Jersey;
- Administering oaths, affidavits and statutory declarations for use abroad;
- Certifying identity documents such as passports and driving licences.
Just because it is not listed here does not mean Anna cannot deal with it, please contact her with any enquiries you may have.
Notarial Services for Businesses
English companies who trade internationally may find they need a notary for a wide range of documents used in international trade. The following are examples of documents that Anna has notarised for corporate clients:
- Authenticating constitutional documents, such as certificates of incorporation, change of name certificates, resolutions and articles of association;
- Powers of attorney where a company wishes to appoint an individual abroad to act on the company’s behalf;
- Authenticating acts of a Company, Partnership or other business entity in relation to business in another country. The business may need a notary in connection with setting up a new office, entering a contract, buying a property or dealing with import and export documentation.
- Certifying and authenticating the authority of Directors, Partners and Members of English business entities
- Witnessing the signing of an affidavit, statutory declaration or contracts by officers of a business
- Authenticating and providing a secure record of a transaction, document or event
Just because it is not listed here does not mean Anna cannot deal with it, please contact her with any enquiries you may have.
Notary Public Request Form
Please use the form below to submit documents to our Notary Public service to receive a quote. By submitting this contact form you agree to our Privacy Policy and the usage of your data in accordance with the policy.
Notary Public and Legalisation
The person or institution requiring notarial services may also require the signature and seal of an English notary to be authenticated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This is called an apostille.
Depending on the country, it may then also need to be sent to the Embassy or Consulate of the country in which the document is to be used. This process is known as legalisation.
Anna will be able to advise in advance what form of legalisation is required and the cost.
Notarising Documents: The Process
Before a notary can witness your signature of a document, they must be satisfied with the following:
- Your identity. Please bring your passport and a recent utility bill. This is usually conclusive proof that you are who you say you are! If the document declares that you are married, you should produce your marriage certificate as evidence of your marriage.
- Your legal capacity. i.e. that you are over the age of 18 and not subject to any disability that might affect the transaction.
- Your authority, if you are acting on someone else’s behalf. This authority could be a Power of Attorney or a company appointment. Please speak with the notary before your appointment if you are acting on someone else’s behalf.
- Your understanding of the document to be signed and your willingness to be bound by it. This is not possible if the document produced is in a foreign language with no English translation. Therefore, you must request the document to be written in English or both the language of the country where it is being used and English. Please speak with the notary before your appointment if the document is not in English.
Once these conditions are met, the process can proceed.
Advice
Please note that it is not the Notary’s responsibility to advise you about the law of the country where the document is to be used, nor about the legal effect of the document in that country.
Advance Notice
The Notary will require a copy of any document to be notarised twenty-four hours or so in advance of any arranged meeting to enable her to review the documents. Sometimes the documents are incorrect or need amending and then any booked meeting may need to be rearranged.
Our Notarial Services Fees
The duty of a Notary Public involves a high standard of care and is not just a ‘rubber-stamping’ exercise.
Every document is different and it depends on the amount of documentation and the matter, so please get in touch with Anna, stating the documents you require notarising and the country where they are to be used and Anna will be pleased to provide you with a quote in advance. All quotes are subject to VAT.
Just because it is not listed here does not mean Anna cannot deal with it, please contact her with any enquiries you may have.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Anna Cattee is covered by CMP Legal’s Professional Indemnity Insurance. The Professional Rules for Notaries can be accessed either on the Faculty Office website or the Notarial services website.
Regulation
The notarial practice of Anna Cattee is regulated pursuant to the Legal Services Act 2007 by the Master of the Faculties through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Complaints Policy
The vast majority of our clients are totally satisfied with the Notarial service provided, however, in order to comply with the Notaries’ Code of Practice, we need to advise you of what to do should you become unhappy with our service.
The Notarial practice of Anna Cattee is regulated by 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 Anna Cattee directly on anna.cattee@cmp.legal
- If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which our notaries are members, 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 call the Notaries Society/the Faculty Office for assistance as above.
- 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 me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman*, if you are not happy with the result:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Telephone 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 when you should reasonable have known there was cause for complaint
*Certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office