01 Jul Notary vs Lawyer
We are still hearing about cases where people are consulting lawyers rather than Notaries for documentation required in an international arena. Some lawyers are unaware of the Notary requirements to the detriment of their clients.
Are you involved in an inheritance from a foreign country?
Do you want your academic/trade qualifications recognised overseas?
Do you want to marry overseas?
For all these areas the chances are you will need a Notary Public NOT a lawyer.
There are three significant differences between notaries and other lawyers:
- a) a Notary’s duty is to the transaction as a whole, and not just to one of the parties. A Notary may act for both parties to a transaction provided there is no conflict between them, and if so it’s their duty is to ensure that the transaction that they conclude is fair to both sides.
- b) a Notary will often need to do a Notarial Certificate for a document in order to make it valid for use overseas. Often it may also be necessary to obtain either an “authentication” or an “Apostille” (depending on the relevant foreign country) from DFAT.
- c) a Notary identifies themselves on documents by their individual seal. Such seals have historical origins and are regarded by most other countries as of great importance for establishing the authenticity of a document.
Notaries are public officials and trusted lawyers. The certificates they prepare rely on worldwide. When overseas authorities receive a document that has been “Notarised” or a Notarial Certificate they can take the information contained as factually correct or as absolute proof.
Our Notary Roy Hasda is not only experienced in dealing with overseas jurisdictions but is fluent in Italian and French. He has dealt with documents required for a myriad of countries across the globe.
For more information on Notary Public requirements contact Roy Hasda at Belperio Clark on 8212 1322 or email roy@bc-lawyers.com.au
