I’m delighted to announce my new association as an independent Notary Public with Hallett & Co, Solicitors. I shall be seeing my clients at their offices across mid Kent. Clients can find me at the office of Thorneloe & Co at The Square in Lenham, Maidstone on Mondays with Harriet and her lovely team.
I’m also seeing clients at Tenterden on a Thursday at EC-30.
Companies that buy or sell goods across Europe and offer customers credit facilities or use large credit clearing houses are required to register in Europe for the use of those services. One of the requirements of such registration is that you have to produce a notarially certified proof of ultimate beneficial ownership. In complex corporations, a corporate family tree showing your ultimate shareholders helps.
If you are owned by a US company, depending on the state in which that company is registered, you may find that the public register does not show the ultimate beneficial ownership. Your notary can help you contact your ultimate parent company or US shareholders in order to provide ID to satisfy the anti-money laundering obligations in Europe.
Some companies have had difficulty with this. The US company ownership regime can be a great deal more discrete that in the UK and, as a result, some US shareholders are reluctant to disclose their interest in the company. This can be a disastrous block to companies being able to achieve credit status in Europe. A recent breakthrough with notarial documents has provided a welcome solution to this problem. In a number of cases, a notarial certificate issued by an English notary which verifies a declaration by the US attorney to the parent company confirming the beneficial ownership, has been accepted by the credit companies as proof of ultimate beneficial ownership. If you need this notary service, please contact your notary immediately as it can take some time.
Please be aware that if you are signing a Power of Attorney for use in Turkey, you will be asked to attach a passport size photograph of yourself. The notarial services you will require include the Notary stamping his or her notarial stamp across the photograph for verification. Unfortunately, it is not possible to print and cut out a photograph taken on your phone, unless you print this out on proper photo quality paper. There have been instances where Powers of Attorney have been rejected because the photograph is not on proper photo paper. Please bear this in mind to avoid delay and disappointment.
Unlike some of its neighbours, Greek authorities will not accept a drafted single status declaration when you get married in Greece, either on the mainland or the islands. If you are getting married in Greece please ensure that you apply online at Gov.uk and your Local Registry Office for your Certificate of Non-Impediment. The certificate needs to be dated no more than 3 months prior to the date of your wedding but we would advise that you apply as soon as that period starts. The application process takes about a month and you will then need to get the Certificate of Non-Impediment Apostilled at the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office which then takes a further week to 10 days. Please put this on your to-do list as soon as you get to the 3 month date prior to your wedding so that you receive these documents in good time before you need to fly out.
Congratulations! In order for your day to go smoothly your wedding planner will have given you instructions for some paperwork that must be completed and Apostilled within 3 months prior to your wedding day. It can be confusing, but your notary can help.
You will each need to complete a single status declaration confirming you are free to marry. Your wedding planner may provide you with a template but, if not, your notary may have experience of drafting such a document and can provide it for you. This must be sworn in front of the notary. The declarations, together with your birth certificates and any previous decree absolute or deed poll, must be Apostilled at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, who will seal the document. Your notary can arrange this and return the documents to you.
The documents then need translating and certifying by the Dominican Republic Embassy in London. You can use a commercial translator or the Embassy can carry out both translation and certification services directly: https://www.dominicanembassy.org.uk/consular-services/marriage/. Clients have found that the documents can be dropped off and collected in person at the Embassy. They do accept documents by post, although please bear in mind the time factor if it is getting close to your dates of travel. I understand that collecting the documents needs to be done by you in person.
Some recent good news for couples getting married in Cyprus. Cyprus requires an Apostilled official copy of any previous decree absolute for those getting married following a previous divorce. The UK courts now issue their orders in pdf format but the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which issues Apostilles in the UK, will only Apostille a court order with a wet signature or seal on it, not a printed version of a pdf. While these can be ordered from the court, they can take weeks to arrive. Until now this has proved to be an insurmountable problem for those getting married in Cyprus in the near future. However, a printed version of a pdf decree absolute, which I accompanied by a notarial certificate, was recently accepted by the marriage registrar in Cyprus. One happy couple and a possible breakthrough on the pdf court order front!
Delighted to have had the opportunity, thanks to Kent Law Society, to talk to the great group of students at University of Kent Law School about being a Notary.
Thank you to all my clients again for adding to the number of acts I have completed this year. We’ve sponsored a further 20 saplings to add to the annual total.
Thank you to all my clients this year. I have donated to the National Trust Woodlands Appeal to sponsor the planting of 14 saplings in the UK. We have made a small difference to the woodland cover in this country for future generations.
In another environmentally friendly move, I am also keeping my records mainly in digital format and reducing my usage of paper.
In the UK, Validate UK is a private company issuing proof of age and ID cards. These are wallet sized cards, similar to a photo driving licence or a national identity card issued by other countries. They give details of your age and name and can be used in some places as a valid proof of identity and age.
Such cards are not universally accepted, however. As they are not issued by a government authority, it is up to the person asking for the proof of identity whether they accept it or not. Validate UK have recently put a notice on their website to say they have ceased trading and cannot replace expired cards. This will call into question the value of the current cards being used as they will no longer have the backing of a trading company.
If you are in any doubt as to whether your Validate UK card will be accepted, there is no better proof of age and identity than a valid UK passport or photo driving licence. These are universally accepted in the UK. They are easily recognised and can be verified.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 07304 048620
Regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury for Notarial Services.
