Notary in the UK

[bellesgirl]

We recently bought a timeshare on ebay and wanted to put our daughter on the contract. She is currently living in the UK. She needs a notarized signature (with a stamp). She has looked into it and it seems that only solicitors (aka attorneys) do this in the UK. Does anyone know if there is another quicker, less expensive way to get this done.

 

[brigechols]

If she is located in or near London, the US embassy provides notary services for ~ $30.

 

[Dave H]

We recently bought a timeshare on ebay and wanted to put our daughter on the contract. She is currently living in the UK. She needs a notarized signature (with a stamp). She has looked into it and it seems that only solicitors (aka attorneys) do this in the UK. Does anyone know if there is another quicker, less expensive way to get this done.

Your only options are the embassy or a solicitor. This is true in many country's. Unlike in the US where $100 dollars and some paperwork anyone can be a notary, many countries still hold out that lawyers should be notaries and not all lawyers are, as in the UK

Dave

 

[bellesgirl]

She lives in Sheffield so the embassy is not an option. I guess she just will not get on this contract. Thanks for the information.

 

[bigrick]

We were purchasing some real (not timeshare) property in the US while we were traveling in the UK. The purchase documents were sent (via FedEx or UPS) to us in Ireland. We found an attorney in Ireland who was a notary. We signed the docs, he notarized them with a hand-written paragraph that he was a duly authorized notary BUT HE DID NOT STAMP the docs, and we sent them back via the same express deliverer.

The purchase documents were accepted in the US.

The notary price we paid in Ireland was much more than we pay for a notary anywhere in the US.

 

[BevL]

As mentioned, the US is the exception, not the rule when it comes to notarizing documents. Here in Canada, you just use a lawyer or, in B.C. and Quebec, there are also separate notaries that can be used.

And yes, the fees here in Canada are higher. Not exorbitant, but not free or the five bucks you pay at Mailboxes Etc.

 

[bigrick]

I bought a timeshare from a Canadian a while back. Their notary did not use a stamp either but did include an emboss with paper cutouts. No tampering was possible with this format.

I then faxed their notarized signatures to Mexico. Their fancy emboss and paper cuts were lost in the fax but Mexico accepted their notary just fine!

 

[MULTIZ321]

Notaries near Sheffield, UK

Graysons Solicitors Sheffield and Chesterfield

South Yorkshire International Trade Centre - Notary Services

Parker Rhodes Solicitors, Sheffield, England


Don't know the fees involved but it can be accomplished if you want to pursue it.


Good luck.

Richard

 

[BevL]

I bought a timeshare from a Canadian a while back. Their notary did not use a stamp either but did include an emboss with paper cutouts. No tampering was possible with this format.

I then faxed their notarized signatures to Mexico. Their fancy emboss and paper cuts were lost in the fax but Mexico accepted their notary just fine!

Up here we call them a seal.

 

[timeos2]

Things can be very different and that can cause problems

Your only options are the embassy or a solicitor. This is true in many country's. Unlike in the US where $100 dollars and some paperwork anyone can be a notary, many countries still hold out that lawyers should be notaries and not all lawyers are, as in the UK

Dave

We ran into this issue at one of my resorts where the owner had deeded a week back but, as they were in England, couldn't get the needed Notarized document back to us and thus lost the deal. (To be honest the management couldn't believe that they couldn't get it notarized and kept asking them to just get that done & the deal was set). They ended up losing it to foreclosure and that cost the management (fortunately NOT the resort owners as we have an agreement for management to cover foreclosure costs - saves us thousands every year) - far more than the original deal agreed to. Too bad these types of issues have to arise due to differing legal customs in various countries

 

[Dave H]

We ran into this issue at one of my resorts where the owner had deeded a week back but, as they were in England, couldn't get the needed Notarized document back to us and thus lost the deal. (To be honest the management couldn't believe that they couldn't get it notarized and kept asking them to just get that done & the deal was set). They ended up losing it to foreclosure and that cost the management (fortunately NOT the resort owners as we have an agreement for management to cover foreclosure costs - saves us thousands every year) - far more than the original deal agreed to. Too bad these types of issues have to arise due to differing legal customs in various countries

I do not know how true this is, but I had a client tell me that to go to the "solicitor" in the UK to get his documents notarized cost him something like $100 USD for the attorney to watch him sign and do his part. It was likened to me like having an appointment with the attorney, but instead of talking about legal troubles, he was just there to sign his docs.

He also said he was in a remote part of the UK and the closest solicitor that was a notary was 2 hours each way. The only document he had to sign was a deed.

 

[ctyatty]

nice racket, supply and demand

 

[BevL]

Please remember that these folks do more than just notarize documents and run a retail establishment, which seems to be the norm in the US.

I used to charge decently - not $100 usually, unless there were a lot of signatures to deal with, but enough that it was worth my while to take time out of my day and away from my "real" work as a notary.

 

[ctyatty]

If it was easier for people to become notaries, then there would be more supply and lower price.

Charging $100 to notarize a signature has to be the product of some sort of price fixing.

 

[bellesgirl]

I appreciate all the feedback. We have decided to leave her off the contract. If she and her husband decide to visit the resort, we will just get her a guest certificate, if it is even needed. It is only a 9 year contract and it cost us $1 on ebay. Hardly worth $100 to include her. It is interesting, though, how something you might think was a non-issue becomes a major one. Good to know, since she will probably be in England for a while.

 

[Dave H]

If it was easier for people to become notaries, then there would be more supply and lower price.

Charging $100 to notarize a signature has to be the product of some sort of price fixing.

Maybe this will explain it... course I know people who think if an attorney or other professional charges more than $50.00 an hour, they are over paid.... just sayin..

In practice the need for notaries in purely English legal matters is very small; for example they are not involved in normal property transactions. Since a great many solicitors also perform the function of commissioners for oaths and can witness routine declarations etc (all are qualified to do so, but not all offer the service), most work performed by notaries relates to international matters in some way, and documents needing to be used abroad, and many of the small number of English notaries have strong foreign language skills and often a foreign legal qualification. The Notaries Society gives the number of notaries in England and Wales as "about 1000," all but 70 of whom are solicitors. ( In the U.S. there are approx 4.5 Million Notaries)

There are also Scrivener notaries, who get their name from the Scriveners' Company; until 1999, when they lost this monopoly, they were the only notaries permitted to practise in the City of London. They used not to have to first qualify as solicitors, but they had knowledge of foreign laws and languages.

Currently to qualify as a Notary Public in England and Wales it is necessary to have earned a law degree or qualified as a solicitor or barrister in the past five years, and then to take a two-year distance-learning course styled the Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice from the University of Cambridge. At the same time, any applicant must also gain practical experience, which would usually be with a solicitor notary. The few who go on to become Scrivener Notaries require further study of a foreign language and foreign law and a two-year mentorship under an active Scrivener notary.

 

[ctyatty]

Europe is full of these old time monopolies, charters, etc.

It relates back to to the monarchy passing out favors to its own. You generally can't just start growing grapes and make wine, for example, like in the USA. It is tied up by government enforced cartels.

Often there are production and sale limits, that is how Germany keeps its regional beers.

Quaint system but fundamentally it lowers overall standards of living in favor of those who have these inherited rights.

So its not just the lawyers who rake in that which they would not earn in a competitive market. Market regulation should strive for fair play, but not have the government pick winners and losers.

Nice deal for those who were related to royals and those who sucked up to them in years past.

 

[USinUK]

notary public

I am currently a student in Sheffield and I needed to have my signature verified by a notary public for a document I was sending to the USA. Instead of paying around £100 to have my signature witnessed on two documents I paid £5. I went to a normal solicitor (non-notary public) and had her witness my signature and stamp the document with the firm's official stamp. It was not a seal nor the punch stamp that notaries usually use, but the agency I was sending the paper work to said they would accept it. If you need the same kind of proof you might check with the agency receiving your docs and see if this will work for you as well.