John Picton-Warlow

WHAT NOTARIES DO

Notaries authenticate documents by certifying to the fact that the document has been signed and that the person signing the document is in fact the person identified in the document as being its signatory. This gives the recipients of the document certainty as to the documents authenticity.

WHY YOU NEED A NOTARY

Notarial documents are mainly used for international transactions or dealings. The notarisation enables foreign governments, companies or persons to recognise the documents as being legal and effective. An international treaty called the Hague Convention to which over 130 nations are now signatories establishes this system. In many cases the document will also need an “Apostille” which is a stamp applied to the documents, to which the notaries certificate is affixed, by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That stamp sets out the document is properly notarised by a notary recognised by the Australian Government.

WHAT SHOULD YOU PAY?

A scale approved by the Legal Practice Board establishes the fees charged by notaries in Western Australia. Those fees may be found on the Internet. I normally charge less than that scale.

GENERAL

The office of Notary (or sometimes Public Notary) is the oldest legal office. Its history goes back to the Roman Empire. After the fall of that Empire the concept of notarisation of documents to render them legally reliable was kept alive in Bologna. The profession of Notary became established throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and almost all documents in Europe must be notarised to be binding. In England Notaries were restricted to their international function and only occasionally for domestic documents.