Notary
In England and Wales Notaries are mainly involved with proving the validity of documents and information that will be used in other countries of the world.
Our Notary clients either have business or property overseas or are involved in litigation in foreign Courts.
Notaries are a completely independent branch of the legal profession separate from either Barristers or Solicitors. As both a Solicitor and a Notary Public Peter Avis of our firm holds separate professional qualifications by examination in each of these branches of the legal profession. As a Notary the work that he carries out is concerned almost entirely with foreign matters. Notarial procedures and protocols differ substantially from those of Solicitors.
When you telephone for an appointment we will ask you to bring the documents that you require to be notarised and your current Passport or other photo ID together with proof of address such as utility bills.
The documents to be notarised will be produced to our Notary and depending upon their precise nature they will typically need to be “legalised” for production abroad by having an Apostille or a Legalisation Certificate attached by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and/or the appropriate Embassy or Consulate of the destination country.
Peter Avis’s signature and Notarial Seal has been lodged by prior arrangement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and with a number of foreign embassies and consulates in London. This ensures as speedy a turnaround as possible of the Legalisation documents.
We follow the advice of the Notaries Society and charge fees based mainly on the amount of time that is required to carry out your work. Whenever possible we will agree a fee with you in advance. In addition to the Notarial fees there may be charges for out of pocket expenses for fees to the Foreign Office, Embassies or Translators.