What is an apostille?
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An apostille is a special seal applied by an authority to certify that a document is a true copy of an original. Apostilles are available in countries, which signed the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, popularly known as The Hague Convention. This convention, created in 1961, replaces the time consuming chain certification process used so far, where you had to go to four different authorities to get a document certified.
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What are apostilles normally used for?
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An apostille can be used whenever a copy of an official document from another country is needed. For example, for international marriages, adoptions, inheritance, but also for plain contracts. The apostille is an official certification that the document is a true copy of the original. It does not certify that the original document's content is correct, however.
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What is the Hague Convention?
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The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents is one of a series of conventions of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It was signed by the original signatories on October 5, 1961.
It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. Such a certification is called an apostille. It is an international certification comparable to a notarisation and is often added to documents that have been in some manner signed by a Notary, lawyer or other public official such as the clerk of a court of record in their official capacity.
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What is FCO?
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FCO or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is the government department responsible for promoting British interests overseas and supporting British residents and businesses around the globe. The FCO also offers legalisation services. FCO legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on a document is genuine. The FCO attach an apostille (the legal term for the legalisation certificate) to confirm that it is genuine. All applications from individuals for document legalisation are made to Norfolk House in Milton Keynes.
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Why do documents need to be legalised by FCO?
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If you are going to use documents issued in Great Britain overseas, for business or personal reasons, you’ll probably be asked to have your documents legalised before they can be accepted. The FCO stamp of authenticity gives the person you’re dealing with complete confidence that it’s the genuine article.
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What is a notary certification?
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The notary certification, or notarised translation, is usually required if documents will be submitted to organisations and government authorities.
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Why is the notary certification so expensive?
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In Great Britain, notary certifications, or notarisations, are carried out by public notaries. Notaries are public officers who serve the public by taking affidavits, witnessing and authenticating the execution of certain documents and performing other official acts. High notary charges are connected with the high grade of responsibility which is imposed on the Notary.
A Notary Public in the UK can be relied on to see to it that business and legal documents are signed and witnessed properly and in accordance with the requirements of the country concerned. The duty of a Notary involves a high standard of care. This is not only towards the client, but also to anyone who may rely on the document and to Governments or officials of other countries. These people are entitled to assume that a Notary will ensure full compliance with the relevant requirements both here and abroad, and to rely on the Notary’s register and records. Documents certified by a Notary are sealed with the Notary's seal and are recorded by the notary in a register maintained by him/her.
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What is a Power of Attorney?
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A Power of Attorney is a legal document whereby a person gives another person or persons the power to take decisions with regard to their financial affairs and/or their health and personal welfare. In England and Wales, there are following types of Powers of Attorney:
• Ordinary Power of Attorney
An Ordinary Power of Attorney is usually created for a set period of time in cases where the Granter is going abroad or is unable to act for some other reason and wishes someone else to have the authority to act on his or her behalf. The authority granted can be general or limited to specific affairs. An Ordinary Power of Attorney will usually end either at a specified time or upon the request of the Granter at any time using a Deed of Revocation and will automatically be revoked if the Granter loses mental capacity. There is no requirement for an Ordinary Power of Attorney to be registered.
• Lasting Power of Attorney
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) were introduced by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 from 1 October 2007. They allow individuals to appoint Attorneys to look after their property and financial affairs (a Property and Financial Affairs LPA) and also to make health and personal welfare decisions (a Health and Welfare LPA) when they lack the capacity to make these decisions themselves in the future. The Attorney(s) can only use the LPA after it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.
• Deed of Revocation
A Deed of Revocation can be used to cancel an Ordinary Power of Attorney, at any time after the Power has been granted; and a Lasting Power of Attorney, at any time while the Granter still has mental capacity.
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Incorporation documents
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Setting up a company brings many obligations. To incorporate a company the following documents need to be sent to the Companies House:
* Application to register a company
* Memorandum of Association
* Articles of Association
A business wishing to incorporate has to provide a lot of information in its memorandum of association. Furthermore, its constitutional rules are divided between its memorandum and articles of association.
If the application satisfies all the examination checks, the Companies House issues the Certificate of Incorporation which contains the company name and its individual registered number. Besides, every limited company incorporated in the UK shall possess a set of other important incorporation documents which include First Directors Board Minutes, Register of Directors and Secretaries, Certificate of Non-Trading and many others. These documents shall be maintained in the company’s registered office and made available for public inspection. Non-compliance with the regulations of the Companies House entails liability.
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