The Notary Solution

Property Transfers in the USA

If you are buying, selling or remortgaging property in the USA you may be sent a bundle of documents to be signed, some of which must be notarised and some just need to be signed. The documents to be notarised would usually include a warranty deed and affidavits.

A notary public in the USA does not need to be a lawyer and it is very common for documents to be notarised in the States. It is an administrative function and your realtor may be surprised at the fees and requirements of notaries outside of the USA.

Our experience has shown that even though “notarized” means something different in America, you will still need to get the documents “notarised by a notary public in the UK if you are signing the documents in the UK. A solicitor will not be accepted. You may be able to get the documents notarised at the US embassy in London.

Some States in the US, e.g. Florida, have started to ask for the notarised documents to be legalised (or apostilled) before they will be accepted as legally binding. This means that the notarised documents need to be sent to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for legalisation before we send them back to the USA.

Notarisation of personal documents for the USA costs £80 plus VAT for the first document and £40 plus VAT for each additional document signed within the same appointment. If you require a notary appointment to deal with documents for the USA please click here to arrange an appointment and to get a specific fee quote.


Return to Posts