A notary is a responsible person appointed by the Supreme Court to witness as a third party the signing of important documents, to administer oaths, witness Statutory Declarations or to certify copies of original documents for national and international purposes.
Notarised documents are considered self-authenticating, which means that they are accepted in Courts and in most overseas countries without verification of their authenticity.
In national and international business dealings between strangers and nationalities of different countries, authentication by a Public Notary creates a trustworthy document where strangers and foreign nationals are able to share and rely on documents with full confidence in their authenticity. Sometimes a Notarial Certificate needs to be prepared in addition to witnessing the document so as to identify the person signing with photo identification, usually drivers licence or passport.
Why are documents notarised? To deter fraud. An impartial witness (a Public Notary) ensures that signatories to documents are who they say they are and not impostors.
A Public Notary ensures that signatories to documents have entered into agreements knowingly and willingly.
A Public Notary 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.
In litigation having a notarised document is a huge strategic advantage.
What documents can be notarised? For a document to be notarised, it must contain:
Text committing the signer in some way;
An original signature (not a photocopy or a digital reproduction) of the document’s signatory;
A “Notarial Certificate” which may appear as an attachment to a multi-page document a face page and called an “eschatocol”.
Is notariasation required by law? For many documents, yes. Certain affidavits, real estate deeds and other documents may not be legally binding unless they are properly notarised. How does a Public Notary identify a signatory? Generally, a Public Notary will ask to see:
Current identification document that has a photograph;
Physical description and a signature;
Driver’s license, Military ID or
Passport
Do not hesitate to approach John Carpenter at Blackwell Short on (02) 6393 9200 to sign documents as a Public Notary.