{"id":174904,"date":"2022-08-23T01:09:27","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T00:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/?p=174904"},"modified":"2022-10-11T23:27:26","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T22:27:26","slug":"what-notary-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/commercial-contracts\/what-notary-public\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Notary Public?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A notary public is a public officer with legal powers to certify legal documents. As a business owner, you should look to protect your assets and commercial contracts by using notary services to validate signatures on your commercial documents and ensure they are legally binding. This article will explain how a notary public can help ensure your business&#8217; commercial contracts are enforceable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a Notary Public?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Notary publics validate and <a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/commercial-contracts\/deeds-statutory-declarations-online\/\">authenticate the legality of any deed<\/a> or legal documents businesses use as part of a business transaction. This process is known as \u2018notarisation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the process of notarisation can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>certifying the signing of a document in the notary\u2019s presence;<\/li><li>verifying an action or fact, that occurs in the notary\u2019s presence (e.g. a bank transfer or the delivery of a deed); or&nbsp;<\/li><li>verifying an action that the notary may not have seen but knows has happened.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div  class=\"box box--icon box--info\">\n    <p>A notary will add their \u2018notarial certificate\u2019 to a document when they are satisfied it has been validly signed and is legally binding. It is important to note that you should not take apart a document that has been notarised. This is because people looking to rely on notarised documents will not accept a contract they feel has been tampered with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you cannot assert that the signatures on a deed are from the correct party, you may struggle to enforce the obligations the deed conveys. You can also use public notaries to certify copy documents if only one original copy is available. Thus, you can then send out those true copies to other parties to the transaction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Are Notary Publics Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The risk of fraud and misrepresentation is becoming a greater threat to modern businesses. Fraudsters can use the latest technological advancements to forge signatures and produce fake documents. This can allow them to access anything from a set of bank details to commercially sensitive information. Therefore, employing a notary public\u2019s service is one effective way to mitigate these risks. Furthermore, notary publics are particularly useful when dealing in international transactions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div  class=\"box box--icon box--info\">\n    <p>For instance, many European countries often require contracts to be notarised to validate the signatures on the document. If you fail to get a document notarised, that can result in the document becoming invalid or unenforceable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<a href=\"#content-next\"\n   class=\"block p-4 mt-10 text-xl font-bold text-center text-white no-underline bg-gray-800 rounded-t-xl\">\n    Continue reading this article below the form\n    <i class=\"text-xl fa-regular fa-arrow-down\"><\/i>\n<\/a>\n<div class=\"px-6 pt-10 pb-12 mb-10 text-center bg-gray-100 rounded-b-xl sm:px-12 test\">\n    <div class=\"mb-8 text-2xl font-bold text-orange\">\n        Need legal advice?\n        <br>\n        <span class=\"text-lg not-prose\">\n                            Call <a href=\"tel:+448081968584\" class=\"not-prose\">0808 196 8584<\/a> for urgent assistance.\n                <br>\n                Otherwise, complete this form, and we will contact you within one business day.\n                    <\/span>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n\n<div class=\"not-prose flex justify-center text-left gform_input_bg_white    \">\n    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On the other hand, if you need to use the services of a notary, you will need to book an appointment with them at the time you are signing your documents. You can use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenotariessociety.org.uk\/\">Notaries Society Website<\/a> to search for qualified notaries near you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A standard notarisiation can take around 30 minutes. Additionally, you may want to check what your notary must do to notarise the document successfully. Indeed, the notarisiation process may vary depending on the document type and whether you need to notarise that document to become valid in a foreign country. Before you attend a notarisation appointment, it is also important to check whether the notary needs to see any forms of identification. Alternatively, they may require a power of attorney from you or any other signing party to authenticate the document\u2019s signatures. For this reason, it is wise to always carry legal identification when attending a notary appointment at a notary\u2019s office.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The notary will then put together a written document outlining the identity of you and your business partners entering the commercial contract. That document will also outline the reasons for the use of the contract. Additionally, the notary will often include their certificate in that document. Typically, the notary will read the document aloud to each party who is due to sign the agreement. Then, the parties will sign the document with the <a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/commercial-contracts\/witness-signature\/\">notary present<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div  class=\"box box--icon box--info\">\n    <p>The notary will also sign the document to authenticate that it was signed correctly. Finally, the notary will affix their seal to the document, certifying that a document has been properly notarised.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can You Notarise Electronic Documents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the <a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/commercial-contracts\/covid-19-clause\/\">COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, many businesses are now signing documents electronically. However, this practice has become an issue for a lot of notaries. Many notary publics can be uncomfortable with certifying documents in electronic format. Nevertheless, notaries may be able to certify print-out electronic documents so long as they can satisfy that the document is an authentic copy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Notary publics are legal executives recognised internationally as being able to authenticate that documents have been made correctly and are legally binding. Businesses use notaries to verify:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>that a document has been signed by the parties authorised to sign it;<\/li><li>the legality of any document;<\/li><li>that a specific action has taken place in their presence; and<\/li><li>that an action has taken place that the notary knew of.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting a solicitor\u2019s advice is also advisable before liaising with a notary public. If you need help authenticating or notarising a document, our experienced <a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/contract-lawyers-lp\/\">contract lawyers<\/a> can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on <a href=\"tel:+448081968584\" class=\"AVANSERnumber dynamic-number\">0808 196 8584<\/a> or visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/membership\/\">membership page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1661212918640\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Can you notarise electronic documents?<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">You can notarise some electronic documents. Many notary publics will be hesitant to do so and they may only be able to notarise a printed copy of the document.\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1661212929189\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>How much should you pay a notary public?\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Notary services can vary depending on the documents you want to get notarised. Businesses can expect to pay anywhere between \u00a360-\u00a3120 for any document to be notarised by a public notary.\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A notary public is a public officer with legal powers to certify legal documents. As a business owner, you should look to protect your assets and commercial contracts by using notary services to validate signatures on your commercial documents and ensure they are legally binding. This article will explain how a notary public can help<a href=\"https:\/\/legalvision.co.uk\/commercial-contracts\/what-notary-public\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;What is a Notary Public?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13324,"featured_media":3200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"1369,4472,173867,2534,2112,2159","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[21,360,361,574,628],"class_list":["post-174904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial-contracts","tag-medium-business","tag-commercial-contract","tag-signing-contract","tag-small-busines","tag-signed-contract"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is a Notary Public? 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