NOTARIES IN CAPE TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG
– Notary services to assist with authentication and legalisation –
WHAT ARE NOTARY SERVICES?
A notary is an attorney, who is further qualified to be enrolled as a notary, because the notary passed the additional examinations that are set for notaries.
Certain statutory laws and common law, stipulates that certain documents may only be drafted by a notary. These documents include:
- antenuptial contracts
- long-term lease agreements
- cessions as well as cancellations and releases thereof
- subleases as well as cancellations and releases thereof
- deeds of servitude
- deeds of usufruct
- notarial bonds
- the notarial life partnership agreement that is required by the Department of Home Affairs
- transactions with sectional titles properties such as the transfer or exchange of exclusive use areas
- Apostille certificate management, if the relevant countries are parties to the Hague Convention
- and a host of other notarial deeds
A notary also performs certain administrative functions of a national and international nature.
Authentication by a Notary may be required for the following:
- When an agreement with a foreign party is implemented in different countries;
- For the purchasing or selling of offshore property;
- For the transferring of money to or from an offshore account;
- When an individual has applied for a job abroad.
Powers of Attorney that will be used in foreign countries are usually required to be authenticated in the country where the document is authorised. This too is done by the Notary.
There are documents that require specialised expertise and drafting skills. These include:
- wills
- trust deeds
- deeds of donation
- underhand leases
These documents are usually drafted by notaries, even though notaries are not exclusively qualified to do so. It is however recommended that these documents are drafted by notaries because notaries are skilled in the finer drafting skills and will usually avoid drafting mistakes that often occur in these documents such as a nudum praeceptum.
WHAT KIND OF DOCUMENTS CAN BE AUTHENTICATED?
The process of authentication and attestation by the Notary is also called legalisation.
Authentication may also be required for the following:
- When an agreement with a foreign party is implemented in different countries;
- For the purchasing or selling of offshore property;
- For the transferring of money to or from an offshore account;
- When an individual has applied for a job abroad.
Apostille Certificates are issued in selected cases, where documents are used internationally. The country where the document originates as well as the country where the document will be used, need to be parties to The Hague Convention, before the Apostille certificate can be added.
Documents that often require Apostille certificates are:
university degrees and transcripts, consent letters for children to travel overseas, and more.
There are a host of deeds and documents that only a Notary has the legislative and common law powers to draft and execute. Those deeds include servitudes, notary deeds in respect of sectional titles properties, notarial long-term lease agreements and the different kinds of notarial bonds.
