Don’t worry! It’s natural to have questions.
1. What is a Notary Public?
A Notary Public in Queensland is a solicitor appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, England to witness the signing of important documents, to administer oaths and witness Statutory Declarations and to certify true and correct, copies of original documents for both national and international purposes.
2. Why do I need a Notary?
The Notary Public ensures that signatories to documents are who they say they are and not impostors.
A Notary Public ensures that signatories to documents have entered into agreements knowingly and willingly.
A Notary Public creates a trustworthy environment where strangers and foreign nationals are able to share documents with full confidence in their authenticity. Notarised documents also are considered self-authenticating, which means the signatories do not need to testify in Court to verify the authenticity of their signatures.
3. May a Notary give legal advice or draft legal documents?
A Notary Public may give legal advice and draft legal documents in Australia because notaries in Australia have to be solicitors to be appointed a Notary Public. But bear in mind that giving of legal advice and preparation of legal documents is not a notary function itself and additional fees may be charged for these legal services.
4. How does a Notary identify the signatory?
We require you to bring your drivers licence or passport so that the Notary Public is able to identify that you are who you say you are.
5. Do I require original copies, or will photocopies suffice?
We will require the original document.
You can expect that we will photocopy all original documents that require the notary’s certification to keep on our file. Just let us know if you need a certified copy.