REQUESTS FOR NOTARIAL SERVICES AFTER THE APPOINTMENT WITH THE NOTARY

Bulletin 10 – Published January 2023

This office provides a full range of notarial services. Of course, at the appointment with the Notary, full instructions need to be provided so as to achieve the desired outcome. If overseas entities later “drip feed” the client with extra requirements post the appointment with the Notary, this is not that Melbourne Notary’s obligation to sort out what should have been enunciated from overseas prior to the Melbourne appointment. At times a solution might be able to be found by the Melbourne Notary, but this cannot be guaranteed. The outcome will be on a case by case basis, depending on what the notarisation involved and how the document(s) was bound and possibly legalised by the  Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 

If, say, a Notarial Certificate is later said to be required, then the ORIGINAL document will need to be returned to Melbourne, because a Notarial Certificate is not a “stand alone” document – rather, it is a certificate which is attached to a specific document. The return of the original necessarily incurs added expense both in terms of courier and notarial fees. 

Given the above, it is imperative that clients attending the office of a Melbourne Notary press the overseas Notary or authority as to precise requirements. Otherwise, extra fees will likely be incurred in Melbourne – so too, time will be wasted when time could well be “of the essence.” 

If the Notary has provided services in conformity with the client’s instructions and those instructions appear to be reasonable in the circumstances, then the Melbourne Notary has acted ethically and professionally according to Australian standards. The Melbourne Notary is not responsible for any shortcomings in terms of a lack of clear and/or changing instructions from a client, their overseas lawyer or overseas Notary – clients are encouraged to discuss the matter of the extra fees involved with the relevant overseas entity, not the Melbourne Notary.