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Our notaries
Andrew Wright (andrew.wright@cwj.co.uk) and Amanda Custis (amanda.custis@cwj.co.uk), our two notaries, are based at our Orpington office. Due to the nature of the technical work they will be doing on your behalf, it is essential that whoever is signing the document comes in person and signs in the notary’s presence. Please do not sign your document before you come.
Appointments
If you would like to make an appointment or to find out more information about how we can help, please contact our notarial assistant:
Alis Ahmedova: alis.ahmedova@cwj.co.uk or 01689 887844
We will do our best to accommodate you at short notice whenever possible. Step free access is available from the car park at the back of our office, which you are welcome to use. There is usually space, but if required, we can reserve a space for you. If you have a particular difficulty which prevents you from getting to us, it may be possible for one of our notaries to visit you for an additional fee.
What does a notary do?
The main business of a notary is to verify the proper execution of documentation to be used abroad. Notarisation means the act by a notary of certifying a signature or issuing a certificate. When notaries sign and seal documents they are verifying the authenticity of the facts set out in the documents. Notaries have a duty to everyone who may rely on the documents and they have to be satisfied that they have verified all necessary facts or information before dealing with them. It is not sufficient for them simply to witness your signature.
Typical documents or notarial acts are:
- powers of attorney, affidavits, oaths and declarations
- documentation relating to the sale, purchase, transfer or verification of land, property or shares
- authentication of a passport or signature
- certified copy documents such as passports, company documentation and educational certificates
- documentation, marriage certificates and declarations of single status in connection with marriage overseas
- preparation of sponsorship forms for people visiting the UK
- permission to let one parent, or another person, travel with children
- witnessing and attesting signature of foreign wills
Your document may be in a foreign language. The notary must be satisfied that the meaning and effect is clear to you. Sometimes, a formal translation will be required.
A notary does not give advice on the meaning or effect of a document or transaction. It is important that you ask for advice and clarification in correspondence you receive with your document and that you bring this with you to your appointment.
It may be possible for us to prepare a document for you. However, our notaries are only familiar with the law in England and Wales and are not able to guarantee that a document will meet the requirements of a foreign jurisdiction.
Sometimes notaries will need to prepare a more formal document (notarial certificate) in order to attest to facts witnessed by or proved to them and attested under their signature and seal. If the notary prepares a document for you, there will be an additional charge.
ID1 forms
We also certify ID1 forms (which are for use in the UK). Our fee for this is £75 plus VAT (£90). Please click on this link for more information: ID1 Forms
Identification
We need clients to bring with them their proof of ID; typically a passport or photo driving licence and a recent utility bill confirming their home address. You should also bring any other means of ID which may be referred to in the papers sent to you as being required, such as a foreign identity card.
If the name on your document is different from the name you are currently using, we will usually need to see additional documents confirming the position; for example, a birth or marriage certificate or a change of name deed.
Business documents
If a document is to be signed on behalf of a company, partnership, charity, club or other incorporated entity, we need to see evidence that the person signing is authorised to do so. Typically this will involve checking at Companies House and/or production of a letter of authority, board minute or power of attorney. For entities not registered at Companies House, we will need to see a copy of the relevant partnership agreement, trust deed or other form of charter/constitution.
Documents for use abroad
We ask clients to provide us with instructions and guidance from the lawyer or authorities who require the document and, if possible, to let us see a copy of the document to be notarised before the visit.
Legalisation
Legalisation or authentication means confirmation of the authenticity of a notarised document which may be required for some countries and documents. The consulate of the country in which the document is to be used will apply its official stamp after the document has been signed and sealed by the notary. Notaries have to provide consulates with specimens of their signatures and seals so that they can be compared to the documents to confirm that they are genuine.
In order to simplify the legalisation process, countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention have opted for a certificate known as an apostille. An apostille is issued by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK. It is attached to a document once it has been signed and sealed by a notary. The purpose of this is to authenticate the signature and seal of the notary, whose details are kept on the FCO’s register.
Countries which are not signatories to the Hague Convention may require consular legalisation in addition to FCO legalisation. A document must be sent to the FCO to be sealed prior to legalisation at the relevant consulate.
When taking instructions on the execution of your document, it is worth checking on the requirements for legalisation. Consular fees for legalisation vary and they need to be checked with the relevant consulate.
Service information
Each notarial matter is different and the requirements will vary according to whether the client is a private individual or a company. Some of the typical key stages are likely to include:
- receiving and reviewing the documents to be notarised together with any instructions you may have received
- liaising with your legal advisors or other bodies to obtain the necessary documentation to deal with the document (for example, information from Companies House or foreign registries, powers of attorney etc)
- checking the identity, capacity and authority of the person who is to sign the document
- if a document is to be certified, checking with the issuing authorities or institutions that the document/award is genuine (this is most common with educational certificates)
- meeting with the signatory to verify their identity and to ascertain that they understand what they are signing and that they are doing so of their own free will
- ensuring that the document is executed correctly
- drafting and affixing or endorsing a notarial certificate to the document
- arranging for the legalisation of the document as appropriate
- storing copies of all notarised documents in accordance with the requirements of the Notarial Practice Rules 2019
- invoicing and taking payment.
Notarial records and data protection
When we carry out our notarial work, we are required to make an entry in a formal register, to be kept as a permanent record. In addition to copies of your identity documents, we will also keep a full copy in electronic form of any official documents produced to us or that we produce for you as a permanent record.
As a notary is a public official, documents and records including copies are open to inspection by anyone who has a proper interest in them.
Clarkson Wright & Jakes Notaries LLP is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Personal data received from clients is held securely and not capable of being accessed externally.
Our Data Protection Privacy Notice is available on request or can be viewed at https://www.cwj.co.uk/site/help/notaries-data-protection-privacy-notice#
Our fees
The minimum charge for dealing with a single document is normally £75 plus VAT (£90) for personal documents and £150 plus VAT (£180) for business documents. Additional documents (for example, certified copies of your passport) are typically charged at £35 plus VAT (£42) per personal document and £60 plus VAT (£72) per business document. If there are additional signatories, we charge an additional £35 plus VAT (£42) per person.
If it is a simple matter of witnessing a document, we will usually charge a fixed fee. If there are complications, if there are two or more attachments or if we are required to draft a document or obtain legalisation, there will be additional charges. These may include telephone calls made or received, letters or emails sent or received, time spent in meetings, on drafting and on preparing the necessary entries in the notarial register, where applicable. Our currently hourly rate is £325 plus VAT (£390).
We charge £50 plus VAT (£60) for obtaining standard apostilles and £150 plus VAT (£180) if using the same day service.
Once we have seen any documents and any instructions sent to you about the document, we may be able to give you a firm indication or estimate of the likely charges.
Special factors which might result in an increase of the charge include complexity or novelty, the number of or importance of the documents, whether or not the work has to be done away from this office and special urgency which may require us to drop other work to deal with yours or if the work unavoidably has to be dealt with outside office hours.
As indicated above, VAT at the current rate is added to all our fees.
Payments made on your behalf (disbursements)
Legalisation fees may have to be paid to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and/or a foreign embassy. There may be translator or interpreter fees. Other payments may be required including administration, legalisation agent’s fees and travelling expenses. Your approval to these will be obtained and you are normally required to make payments in advance of any such amounts. The Foreign Office charges £30 for apostilles obtained by post and £75 for their same day service.
Invoicing and payment
Unless otherwise agreed invoices are payable in full immediately without any deduction by way of set off, counterclaim or otherwise. If an invoice is not settled within 30 days interest at the rate specified in the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 is payable from the date of invoice. We reserve the right to recover on a full indemnity basis any costs incurred in collecting overdue payments, and to retain all documents and any other items in our possession relating to any matter until invoices are paid in full.
Clarkson Wright & Jakes Ltd provides invoicing services to Clarkson Wright & Jakes Notaries LLP. Details as follows:
Account name: Clarkson Wright & Jakes Ltd
Bank: NatWest Bank
Sort Code: 60-16-03
Account Number: 73591556
Reference: Notarial
Cheques: payable to Clarkson Wright & Jakes Ltd
Credit card: call 01689 887887
Redress
Clarkson Wright & Jakes Notaries LLP maintains professional indemnity insurance of £10m per claim.
We are not responsible for any document losses or delays caused by the postal or any courier or equivalent service or by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office or foreign embassies or consulates.
Regulatory information
Our notarial service is provided by Clarkson Wright & Jakes Notaries LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (Number OC419528), having its registered office at Valiant House, 12 Knoll Rise, Orpington, BR6 0PG. It is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:
The Faculty Office
1 The Sanctuary
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JT
Telephone: 020 7222 5381
Email: Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
Website: www.facultyoffice.org.uk
All notaries are subject to the Notaries Practice Rules, which may be accessed at www.facultyoffice.org.uk
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received, please do not hesitate to contact the notary that you dealt with. If we are unable to resolve the matter, you may then complain to the Notaries Society (our representative body), of which our notaries are members, which has a Complaints Procedure approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute. In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to:
Christopher Vaughan
The Secretary of the Notaries Society
Old Church Chambers
23 Sandhill Road
St James
Northampton NN5 5LH
Email: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk
Telephone: 01604 758908
If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing, you may call the Notaries Society or the Faculty Office for assistance.
Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Notaries Society Approved Complaints Procedure, you may, at the end of that procedure or after a period of eight weeks from the date you first notified us that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint direct to the Legal Ombudsman if you are not happy with the result:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within six months from the conclusion of the complaint process and no later than six years from the date of act/omission (or, if the act or omission took place more than six years ago, three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint)
Certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. Please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office.
Termination/your right to cancel
You may have the right, in relation to some non-business work where you do not come to our offices, to cancel your contract with us within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period, if applicable, will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of your contract with us.
To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail) addressed either to the notary whom you dealt with. You can use our standard cancellation form which we will send you in appropriate cases, but it is not obligatory. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is enough for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired. If you cancel, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, unless you asked us to start work during the cancellation period. We will make the reimbursement without undue delay (and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel the contract) and using the same means of payment as you used for the initial payment, unless otherwise agreed; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement. We will not start work during the cancellation period unless you expressly ask us to.
In most cases, if you ask us to start work during the cancellation period, you will not lose your right to cancel. If you subsequently cancel during the cancellation period, we can charge you for the work we have done on a pro-rata basis. This will be an amount which is in proportion to what has been performed, until you told us you wished to cancel, in comparison with the full scope of the proposed work. You will, however, lose the right to cancel and will have to pay in full once the contract had been fully performed (i.e. we complete our work) even if this happens within the cancellation period.