When do you need a notary public?
The need for a notary public arises in a wide range of situations. To obtain the solution you need, it is important to seek a professional, experienced law firm which provides the whole range of notary services and deals with them regularly.
Preface: Who is a notary public?
A notary public is a senior attorney who has worked actively as an attorney for at least 10 years, and has obtained special certification from the Ministry of Justice to act as a notary public. That is, every notary public is an attorney, but not the other way around. As part of his work, the notary verifies, writes and approves various official documents, and his signature confers on them a high level of credibility.
Accordingly, many authorities, in Israel and around the world, will only accept documents that bear a notary public’s signature. When do you need a notary? Below we bring three central examples: notarized signature authentication, notarized translation, and a certified copy.
Notarized signature authentication
This is one of the most common notary services, in which someone is required to sign a certain document in the presence of a notary, who verifies the signature and thus certifies that the document is in fact signed by that person. Notarized signature authentication is required, for example, when signing a power of attorney in order to take out a mortgage.
After an in-person meeting with the notary, it is possible to authenticate additional documents digitally, without having to come to the office.
If the signer is sick, elderly, or has some other disability which does not allow them to meet with the notary in the office, the notary can come to the place of residence/hospital/nursing home where the signer is located.
Another example is a couple seeking to write a prenuptial agreement before the wedding. Given the legal and economic significance of such agreements, their credibility must be ensured so that the identity of the signers will not be in doubt. Accordingly, the law requires both sides to sign these documents in the presence of a notary public.
Notarized translation
Do you want to get a job or study abroad? For that you will need to present various certificates and documents to prove your identity, lack of a criminal record, diplomas, etc. Since these are written in Hebrew, they will need to be translated into the language of the relevant country. For the most part, authorities abroad will not settle for translation of the documents alone, but will require a notarized translation in order to guarantee their credibility.
If the notary public speaks the language of the target country, he will certify the accuracy of the document’s translation. However, when the notary public does not speak the language, the translator will sign a notarized translator’s declaration, in which they declares that they speak both languages (the original and the translation). Then the notary public grants certification to the translator’s declaration.
Certified copy
As noted above, a notary public’s signature on a certain document confers on it a stamp of credibility and guarantees that it is an authentic document. Since it is so easy to falsify documents in the modern age, there is often a requirement, in Israel and abroad, for a notary public to certify a copy of a document. This certification states that the original document and the copy are identical.
Note that, unlike other services such as signature authentication, which require you to physically come to a notary public’s office, this certification can generally be obtained remotely. Beyond the significant convenience, particularly during this time of the Corona pandemic, many people prefer to stay at home and obtain the service remotely.
What is the cost of notary services?
Every attorney has the right to determine the fee that they want to charge for their services. The fee should be based on the type and scope of the attorney’s expertise, as well as their reputation and professional seniority. However, when providing notarial services, they are obligated to the uniform price list determined by law, and is not authorized to charge fees as they see fit. This law was passed to ensure that anyone can obtain notarial services. The price list, which is periodically updated, determines the price for each type of notarial service.
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:מאמרים מומלצים