The role of a Notary is to authenticate legal documents which will be used abroad. In addition to the Notary's authentication, many foreign jurisdictions require documents to be legalised. Legalisation is the process whereby a Notary's signature and seal is certified to be genuine by the UK and foreign government.

Notaries work for both commercial firms engaged in international trade and for private individuals. The most common tasks are:

• preparing and witnessing powers of attorney for use overseas
• dealing with purchase or sale of land and property abroad
• providing documents to deal with the administration of the estate of people who are abroad or owning property abroad
• authenticating personal documents and information for immigration or emigration purposes, or to apply to marry or work abroad
• authenticating company and business documents and transactions

For further information on Notary Services for businesses contact Philip Wallace, David Wedgwood or Peter Mantell. Peter and Philip also provide notary services for individuals.