Role of a Notary Public

Notaries are the oldest branch of the legal profession, pre-dating solicitors and barristers. We derive our authority from the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury rather than the Law Society or Bar Council.

Our main role is to authenticate documents and facts for use outside of England and Wales. This can relate to a wide range of activities including overseas property transactions, granting powers of attorney, administering the estates of the deceased, commercial transactions, court proceedings, adoption applications and immigration matters.

We need to be satisfied that the signer has proved their identification and their authority to act if they are representing a company or other organisation. We need to ensure that they understand what it is that they are signing and that they have sufficient capacity to do so.

In order to qualify as a Notary Public we have to study Private International Law, Roman Law and Notarial Practice. Most of us (myself included) are Solicitors with experience in Private Client work.