Vancouver Notary Public
Notary Public in Vancouver
Most people have heard of a notary public but few seem to know exactly what they do. In general a notary public is a person who witnesses the signing of documents and has each party swear an oath that the the document is authentic. These are the main services provided by a Vancouver notary public, there is a good chance that at some point you will require these services.
The biggest part of any Vancouver notaries job is verifying the identities of the people involved in the signing of documents. A notary public is required to make sure that the people signing documents are who they claim to be. In the age of identity theft in which we currently live this is becoming more and more important. It also makes the notaries job more difficult than it used to be, the result is that it may take some time to get documents signed. In some cases it may not be possible to just show up at a Vancouver notary public office and sign the documents, you may have to wait a few days while he verifies identities.
Once a document has been signed the notary will attach his seal and record it in his registry. A lot of people believe that a notaries seal makes a document true and legal, this isn't the case. A notary public merely witnesses the signing and has the signors attest that it is true, this doesn't guarantee that it is true. The notaries seal simply authenticates the signature, it is a way of proving that somebody did sign a document.
Finding a notary public in Vancouver is usually not that difficult there are plenty of them. Many operate as independent practices but there are also a lot who work for certain companies. Often places like banks, mailbox stores and copy centre's offer notary public services. They all provide pretty much the same service so finding one is usually just a matter of opening the yellow pages, there really isn't any difference between one Vancouver notary public and another.
It is likely that at some point in time you are going to require the services of a notary public. Almost all legal documents require a notary to witness the signing. There will be a fee involved in using these services but it is usually not very expensive. There can be a bit a price difference from one Vancouver notary public to another so it may pay to shop around.