Business Notary Services

What is a notary?

Notaries have the authority to authenticate a document and certify its legitimacy so that it can be used in another country. In particular, many English documents will only be accepted by foreign courts and civil authorities once they have been notarised, and many foreign documents need to be prepared or signed in front of a notary in order to be effective.

The office of Notary Public is internationally recognised and difficult to attain; there are fewer than 900 notaries in the whole of England and Wales. Notaries date back to Roman times, but in today’s increasingly global society they play an important role in supporting international trade.

Although able to act for both parties to a contract, a Notary Public has to act independently and with impartiality.  The work of a notary is governed by a set of strict rules and standards which help to protect its clients. The work of Roythornes Notarial Services, and its notaries, is regulated through the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

When is a notary needed by businesses?

There are a number of situations where businesses might require the services of a Notary Public.  In most cases, a notary is required where there is a need for someone to check and verify documents which have come from or will be used, outside the UK.

A notary can help businesses involved in international trade in a number of ways:

• notarising Certificates of Incorporation, Memorandum and Articles of Association for the UK and foreign companies;
• company Powers of Attorney and letters of authority;
• affidavits, statutory declarations and sworn statements;
• registration and assignment of trademarks;
• certification of the identity of directors and other company officials;
• presenting bills of exchange for acceptance and payment, noting and protesting bills in cases of dishonour and preparing acts of honour;
• notarising commercial finance documentation (accounts, mortgages or loans);
• certifying copies of company Minutes and Resolutions;
• ship protests;
• legalisation and apostille services;
• verification of other commercial documentation;
• proof of life for pension authorities.

How much does it cost?

The fees payable to a notary depend on a number of elements including:

• what it is you need to do – certification, witnessing, obtaining apostille etc;
• the type of documents involved;
• who is signing the documents (a company or an individual);
• how many documents there are;
• which other countries are involved.

The notaries will happily go through these when you contact them and give you an estimate of fees and timescales. Further details of how Roythornes Notarial Services calculate the applicable costs are set out in the relevant terms of business.

Please note that any enquiries to Roythornes Solicitors in respect of notarial services will be passed to Roythornes Notarial Services. You can read Roythornes Notarial Services’ privacy policy here.

Please see Roythornes Notarial Services’ terms and conditions for details of the level of insurance which Roythornes Notarial Services carries and details of Roythornes Notarial Services’ complaints procedure.

Get in touch regarding Notary Services

For further information about our notarial services, get in touch with our team in Alconbury.