Fixed fee for notarising degree certificates.

Graduates from UK universities who are seeking employment abroad, or who are looking to continue their education at a foreign university, will often be required to provide a notarised copy of their degree certificate.

 As a notary the contents of my certificate are relied on around the world as being a statement of truth. In the case of notarising a copy of a degree certificate I am required not merely to confirm that the copy is a "true and complete copy of the original" but also to satisfy myself that the degree certificate is genuine. This is done on-line through the Higher Education Degree Datacheck (“HEDD”). HEDD includes all 165 publicly funded universities and colleges in the UK, plus the University of Buckingham, that report their student outcomes to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HEDD covers all recognised degree-awarding bodies, including merged institutions, name changes and new institutions, as reported to HESA from 1990 onwards.

Verification may be instant, though this requires the university to have uploaded its records onto HEDD. Currently Sheffield Hallam University, University of Manchester, University of Nottingham and University of Essex offer online verifications of awards via HEDD. In other cases the enquiry has to be submitted to the university for checking manually and the result issued to me. This may take a few days.

I'm pleased to announce that I have introduced a fixed fee for dealing with this. For an all inclusive fee of £100 I will check the authenticity of the degree certificate on HEDD,  notarise it with my certificate and seal of office and return it to you by Royal Mail Special Delivery Post.

There's no need to make an appointment - all I need is your degree certificate and some form of ID.

For an extra all inclusive fee of £61.60 I can even deal with obtaining legalisation at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office if this is required by the overseas employer or university.

I have produced an Information Pack for prospective clients. Download it here or email me for a copy at nlo@notary-public-hull.co.uk for further details

Shield of the Notaries Society

I've just got permission from the Notaries Society to use their rather splendid shield on my website and on my blog.

The motto "Veritatem Testamus" sums up the role of the notary very succinctly - "We attest to the truth." International law recognises as true all those matters set out in a notary's certificate - in other words "if a notary says it's true, it's true!"

This principle is stated in rather more legal language in Part 32.20 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998: “A Notarial Act or instrument may be received in evidence without further proof as duly authenticated in accordance with the requirements of the law unless the contrary is proved.” 

This is a matter that the notary does not take lightly. When a document is prepared by and executed before a notary he makes himself responsible for the authenticity of its content in all respects save any that he may identify by a qualification in his certificate.  The notary is required to investigate all the facts and information contained in the document.  As part of his authentication of the capacity and the will of the signing party he must also satisfy himself as to the party’s understanding of the content and effect of the document at the time that it is being completed. It will be appreciated that this is no small burden of responsibility, but it does demonstrate why notarial acts are accepted in evidence without challenge.

Neil Oakes

Notary Public

Getting married in Australia

Getting married in Australia – the legal requirements.

An article by Neil Oakes, Notary Public.


Australian law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Same-sex marriages are not permitted in Australia and those entered into in other countries are not recognised as legal marriages in Australia.To be married legally in Australia, a man and woman must: 

• not be married to someone else 
• not be marrying a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister 
• be at least eighteen years old, unless a court has approved a marriage where one party is aged between 16-18 years old 
• understand what marriage means and freely consent to becoming man and wife 
• use specific words during the ceremony 
• give written notice of their intention to marry to their authorised celebrant

A person does not have to be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia to marry there legally.

The marriage ceremony is conducted by an authorised celebrant. There are three kinds of authorised celebrant:a) Commonwealth-registered marriage celebrants who perform civil and religious ceremonies.b) Ministers of religion of a recognised denomination who perform religious ceremonies.c) State officials who perform civil ceremonies. This includes some staff of state and territory registries of births, deaths and marriages and some local courts.

The Australian Government maintains a list of all authorised marriage celebrants, whilst the Coalition of Celebrant Associations offers some tips on choosing a celebrant. The couple will need to choose the celebrant well ahead of the wedding day as it is a legal requirement that the couple must give the authorised celebrant not less than one month’s and not more than eighteen months’ notice of their intended marriage. This is done by completing a Notice of Intended Marriage.

Notice of Intended Marriage

Follow this link to obtain the Notice of Intended Marriage form. The notice may be completed and witnessed outside Australia if required, in which case it must be witnessed by an Australian Diplomatic Officer, Australian Consular Officer, other authorised official at the Australian High Commission in London or by a notary public. As a qualified Notary Public I have dealt with many of these forms and I am able to assist in completing the form and witnessing it correctly so that it will be accepted by your authorised celebrant. Give me a call on 07583 379 147.

In addition to sending the authorised celebrant the completed Notice of Intended Marriage form each party to the marriage will also need to produce to the authorised celebrant:

• evidence of their date and place of birth; and
• if previously married, evidence of annulment, divorce or death of the previous spouse.

Note that these will need to be original documents and I recommend that each party should produce not only their passport, but also a “long form” birth certificate, together with original court papers relating to the termination of a previous marriage and the death certificate of a former spouse. Do speak to the authorised celebrant to make sure that you have covered all eventualities and are able to satisfy his/her requirements.

The celebrant may also ask either or both parties to complete a statutory declaration to support their evidence.

After the ceremony

On the day of the wedding, the parties will sign three marriage certificates. Each certificate should be signed by the couple, the celebrant and two witnesses. The celebrant will give the couple one of the certificates as a record of their marriage.

The celebrant will register the marriage with the registry of births, deaths and marriages in the state or territory in which it took place within fourteen days.

The certificate issued by the registry of births, deaths and marriages is required for many official purposes. The couple should apply for a copy of this certificate from the registry after the wedding.

Other matters

Do remember that a visa is required for entry into Australia. If you plan to visit Australia for up to 3 months and you hold a passport from the European Union, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland or Vatican City you can apply online, free of charge for a 3 month visitor visa. This visa is called an eVisitor. If you hold one of these passports this is the simplest way to get a visa for your holiday.

Apply online: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/evisitor.htm

Once granted an eVisitor is subject to the following conditions: You must comply with your eVisitor conditions while in Australia. A breach of these conditions may result in your eVisitor being cancelled and you may have to leave Australia.

• You must not engage in any studies or training for more than three months. 
• You must be free from tuberculosis at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia. 
• You must not have any criminal convictions, for which the sentence or sentences are for a total period of 12 months duration or more (whether served or not), at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia. 
• You must not work whilst in Australia. Limited volunteer work may be acceptable. 
• Australia’s modern electronic visa system does not require you to have a visa label placed in your passport to confirm your immigration status and entitlements in Australia. When you check-in to fly to Australia, airline staff will use your passport to electronically confirm that you have authority to travel to Australia prior to boarding the aircraft.

It is recommended that you take out health and/or travel insurance for yourself and your family members each time you travel to Australia. You will not be covered by Australia's national health scheme, unless your country has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia. Reciprocal medical arrangements exist with some countries.

If you are not able to use the eVisitor online application you may be eligible to apply for an ETA through your local travel agent. 

The legal bit

The information and opinions within this article are for information purposes only. They are not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice, and should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to particular circumstances. N L Oakes, Notary Public shall accept no responsibility for any errors, omissions or misleading statements in this article, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on materials contained in this article. Certain parts of this article link to external Internet sites, and other external Internet sites may link to this article. N L Oakes, Notary Public is not responsible for the content of any external Internet sites.

Powers of Attorney – Spain

An article by Neil Oakes, Notary Public

Those of us who are lucky enough to own a property in Spain may from time to time have to give a Power of Attorney to a representative in Spain to authorise them to carry out certain functions relating to the property. It is a convenient way of ensuring that documents that need to be signed in Spain can be dealt with without the donor having to be present.

What is a Power of Attorney?

A Power of Attorney, known as a Poder in Spanish, is a legal document which is executed as a deed by which one party, the donor, delegates authority to an attorney which enables to attorney the carry out certain acts on the donor’s behalf and in the donor’s name, thereby binding the donor just as if the he/she had carried out those acts in person.

A Poder for dealing with the sale or purchase of property will contain fairly comprehensive powers for the attorney to transact the sale on the donor’s behalf. The donor must be aware of these powers and if he sees fit he may ask that the attorney’s powers be limited in scope.

The Poder will usually be prepared by a Spanish lawyer and sent over to the donor in the UK. It is really helpful if this could be done by email so that an electronic copy can be sent on to the Notary Public who will supervise the correct execution of the deed. Often the notary’s details are left out of the deed and it looks so much neater if these can be typed into the original version of the Poder and a fresh copy printed rather than have them inserted in manuscript. Indeed manuscript amendments are somewhat frowned upon by the Spanish authorities.

Once the Poder has been executed it will be necessary for the notary to obtain an “Apostille” from the Foreign and Commonwealth office. This is necessary to authenticate the Poder for acceptance in Spain. This usually takes a few days to resolve.

For how long does a Power of Attorney last?

Poders are automatically revoked by the donor’s death, insolvency or loss of mental capacity. In addition the donor may revoke the Poder at any time, but this has to be done by a formal legal deed. Otherwise, the Poder remains in force until it has been revoked. This could mean that the Poder remains valid for the rest of the donor’s life! Some Poders are limited in time and it is always possible for the donor to ask their Spanish lawyer to include a suitable clause. A donor may think, therefore, that it would be a good idea to make a formal revocation and request the attorney to return the original deed and any copies back to him once the transaction in respect of which it was made has been completed.

Obligations of the attorney and the donor

The attorney must follow the donor’s instructions and not exceed the powers given by the Poder. If he is negligent in the performance of his powers he may be liable for damages, but of course that would mean the donor having to bring legal action against the attorney – an expensive exercise, often with an uncertain outcome.

The donor is bound by the proper acts of the attorney and must compensate the attorney for any damage that he may suffer in the performance of his duties.

Whom should be appointed as an attorney?

Having read the above you will appreciate that the appointment of any attorney involves an element of risk. It is essential that the attorney should be a reliable individual or come from a professional firm who can be trusted to carry out his duties faithfully and with all due diligence. Seek a recommendation from other property owners who have used attorneys in Spain in the past.

How can I help?

As a fully qualified Notary Public I have dealt with dozens of Poders over the years. I am able to ensure that the document is correctly completed, executed and witnessed before sending it off to obtain an Apostille from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Give me a call on 07583 379 147 if I can be of assistance.

The legal bit

The information and opinions within this article are for information purposes only. They are not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice, and should not be relied on or treated as a substitute for specific advice relevant to particular circumstances. N L Oakes, Notary Public shall accept no responsibility for any errors, omissions or misleading statements in this article, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on materials contained in this article. Certain parts of this article link to external Internet sites, and other external Internet sites may link to this article. N L Oakes, Notary Public is not responsible for the content of any external Internet sites.

So what does a notary actually do?

As a notary, I am a member of the oldest and smallest branch of the legal profession in England. I qualified as a notary in 1994 and I have been a qualified solicitor since 1987. I am a member of the Notaries Society. With a wealth of experience I am able to advise on all aspects of notarial work.

I provide a service for private individuals who have dealings abroad and for companies engaged in international trade. My function is to prepare and authenticate legal documents which affect one’s rights, duties and obligations in foreign jurisdictions in such a way as to be acceptable to the authorities in the receiving jurisdiction. Such documents are called “notarial acts” and bear my signature and seal of office. International law recognises the matters stated in such acts as being true.

The services I provide include:

· attesting the signature and execution of documents

· authenticating the execution of documents

· authenticating the contents of documents

· administering oaths and declarations

· drawing up or noting (and extending) protests of happenings to ships, crews and cargoes

· presenting bills of exchange for acceptance and payment, noting and protesting bills in cases of dishonour and preparing acts of honour

· 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, divorce, adopt children or to work abroad

· providing notarial copies

· preparing and witnessing powers of attorney, corporate records, contracts for use in Britain or overseas

· authenticating company and business documents and transactions

· preparing sponsorship declarations in respect of visitors from abroad, principally India.

· obtaining Apostilles and consular legalisation

· consent for minors to travel abroad

Back in business

After a fairly long lay off due to illness I am pleased to say that I am once again back in business and looking forward to serving clients in Hull and the East Riding who require the services of a notary.

I've actually made my first appointment - on Sunday 3rd February - to help clients who are unable to come to the office in regular hours. I've arranged to see them at my home.

I live in Kirk Ella and am fully equipped to see clients out of hours at my home. My office is within the office of Jane Brooks Law Limited on the First Floor of 2/4 George Street, Cottingham, HU16 5QU.

I can be contacted on 07583 379 147.