What is a Notary Public?
What is a Notary Public?
A notary public (or notary, or public notary) is tasked with verifying the authenticity of your most important transactions.
So what is a notary public? Who are the people that stamp your documents, and what does it take to earn their (literal) seal of approval?
What Does a Notary Public Do?
A notary public is a public official appointed by the government. Notary publics witness the signing of important documents and verify the identity of the signer(s), their willingness to sign the documents, and their awareness of the contents of the document or transaction, as stipulated in Law No. 30 of 2004 as amended with Law No. 2 of 2014 concerning the Office of Notary Public.
These documents include:
Estates
Deeds
Powers of attorney
Licenses
Contracts
Loan documents
Notary publics offer a legal service that impacts numerous institutions. Their responsibilities include:
Taking acknowledgments of deeds and other conveyances;
Protesting notes and bills of exchange; and
Providing notice of foreign drafts.
The term “notary public” refers to civil-law notaries. A civil-law notary who is not a lawyer is forbidden from handling litigations and/or handling proceedings in court.
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