Welcome to my FAQ Section
Your questions answered, helping you navigate my notary services.
Common Questions
Find answers to frequently asked questions
We will have an initial call so that you can tell me your requirements. If your document needs to be notarised I shall ask you to email the draft papers to me. I will explain the process and costs. We will make an appointment.
In most cases I will need to meet you in person.
The appointment will take place either at one of the HK Law offices, your place of work, your home, my office in Weymouth, or other agreed location.
You will bring the original documents to be notarised to the appointment. I shall also need to see your original passport and original proof of address.
Please bring a valid government-issued ID, such as a driving license or passport, to verify your identity during the notarisation process.
We should usually be able to deal with simple notarisation at the appointment.
Sometimes an original document will need to be obtained or research may need to be done. Checks may need to be carried out at companies house or verification from a university sought, which can take a while longer.
The document may need to be apostilled and legalised, depending on the requirements of the country in which it will be used. There are various ways of doing this, and we can discuss the simplest and quickest way of going forward.
Some countries require documents to be legalised. This means that the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office verifies the signature and seal of the notary after notarisation. Some countries, who are not parties to the Hague Apostille Convention require a further step whereby the document is legalised by the consulate of the country in which the document is to be used.
Legalisation requirements are determined by the country where the document is going, not by the government of England and Wales. You will ask your foreign lawyer what they need. I will research the best way of meeting these requirements and discuss this with you.
If the matter is simple I will charge a fixed fee to include disbursements such as legalisation fees, postage, consular agent fees, courier fees, travelling expenses, translating costs and so on. I do not charge VAT on my fees.
For more complicated or time-consuming matters the fee will be based on my hourly rate of £300, subject to a minimum fee of £150, plus disbursements. The fee charged may include time spent on preliminary advice, drafting and preparation time, making and receiving telephone calls, correspondence written and received in all formats, arranging legalisation and record keeping.
Some documents require legalisation before they will be accepted for use in the receiving jurisdiction by obtaining an apostille through the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office and, for some countries, additional legalisation is required through the relevant embassy or consulate. The cost of legalisation, including agent’s fees and postage to and from the legalising authority, the cost of posting the documents to you/another person by and travelling fees will be in addition to my fee.
Payment of my fee and disbursements is due when the document has been prepared and I may retain the document pending payment in full.