Cutting Corners with Notarisation can get you in BIG Trouble!

We have encountered situations where a public notary has cut corners, often involving certifying on the basis of copy documents, without having seen the original documents. Typically, this is presented as a way of providing a more convenient and lower cost service.In reality, it represents a sub-standard service, which can cause problems for the client out of all proportion to any small saving made.

A public notary must view the original document and provide a statement to this effect as part of notarising a document. A public notary cannot make this statement if they are given only a copy of a document. A notary who does so anyway can get you in a lot of trouble. In particular:

• Most if not all countries impose criminal liability for submitting false documents and you could be exposed to such liability if you submit a document with a false notarial certification.
• If the irregularity is discovered, you may be unsuccessful in the application or transaction for which the documents was required. This can happen, e.g. if a client dispute or disciplinary action against such a notary uncovers irregularities with other clients documents.
• A public notary who makes false and misleading statements, could be subject to disciplinary action, possibly even leading to being struck off as a public notary and you could get caught up in that action.
• Others involved in the application or transaction can get caught up in such problems, e.g. other representatives and suppliers.
• If this corner has been cut, what other corners have been cut?
• Is a small saving, as compared with doing the job properly, worth this risk?

At Australian Notary Services, we provide a careful and professional service, which spares you these headaches, at a competitive cost for such a service. Our public notaries will only notarise documents as true copies of originals after they have viewed the originals.