Alicia Fernández Fontalba talks to Legal Women UK about qualifying as a Notary Public in England and Wales

Alicia Fernández Fontalba talks to Legal Women UK about qualifying as a Notary Public in England and Wales

As someone from Spain where Notaries have a fundamental role in people’s lives, I was surprised that most people in England and Wales don’t know what a Notary is. However, the role of notaries in England and Wales is very restricted and there are only around 800 Notaries, one of the smallest branches of the legal profession.

In Spain (and other civil law countries), people see a Notary whenever they get a mortgage, buy or sell their home, get married, or prepare their will. In England and Wales, this is all within the realm of solicitors’ work.

What is a Notary Public?

In very simple terms, their function is primarily the preparation of documents destined for abroad. A Notary Public is a specialist lawyer who holds an internationally recognised public office and is authorised to authenticate documents for use in other countries. This means that after a document has been notarised, it will be accepted and legally recognised abroad.

Examples of documents that require notarisation are powers of attorney, copies of identification documents, company documents such as board minutes, and affidavits. As part of the process, the Notary will need to verify the identity, capacity and authority of the person appearing before them and will prepare a notarial certificate to which they will add their signature and affix their seal.

My decision to become a Notary Public

I studied comparative law at university and although I knew I wanted to qualify as a solicitor in England & Wales, I also wanted to be exposed to a worldwide profession where I would be dealing with foreign jurisdictions on a regular basis and I could use my two other languages, Spanish and French.

After the LPC, I worked in Paris for a few months as a paralegal and this involved getting documents notarised by a French Notaire, much like the work in Spain. This sparked my interest, and I decided to study to become a Notary Public in England and Wales, alongside completing my training contract in London.

The path to becoming a Notary Public

There are three stages to qualifying as a Notary Public: Academic Training, Professional Training and Appointment.

Having completed an LLB and the LPC, I was exempt from the Academic Training stage, which ensures you have studied and are competent in the main subjects of English law. If the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury (the Notarial Regulator) considers that there are any gaps in your knowledge in any of these subjects, you will be able to complete CILEX courses to satisfy this first Academic Training requirement.

As I had a Certificate of Exemption I commenced the Professional Training requirement by enrolling at University College London (UCL), which is currently the only provider for the Notarial Practice Course. It is a two-year part-time online course with three subjects: Roman Law and Private International Law in the first year, and Notarial Practice in the second year.

The Notarial Practice Course

The course is designed for people who are in full-time practice and grants you sufficient flexibility to organise your study timetable as you wish. The course is entirely online, apart from a few workshops that take place in the UCL Faculty of Laws.

My experience of working full-time and studying part-time was positive, and my best advice to anybody thinking of embarking upon this journey is to allocate a few hours every week for studying and keep on top of the material which is released every week as part of the course.

Once you have finished the Notarial Practice Course, the last requirement is “Appointment” (I am yet to be appointed). Once you have been appointed as a Notary Public, you can begin practising under the supervision of an experienced Notary and creating notarial certificates which will travel around the world.

Practising as a Notary Public

If you are thinking about whether this is a suitable career path for you, the following points are worthy of consideration.

Although big cities like London have Notary Firms, most Notaries set up independently and run their own practice. This is particularly the case if you are also working full-time as a solicitor. In many towns, there may only be one or two Notaries, or perhaps none, giving you a huge advantage in a highly competitive legal market.

The main advantage of the profession is that you get to decide how you want to practise. Do you want to be a full-time Notary? Do you want to do notarial work alongside your solicitor work? Do you want to work alone? Or be part of a firm of Notaries? It’s completely up to you!

Further factors to consider are that being a Notary Public allows you to offer a potential employer the benefit of attracting additional clients to their practice, and it will also provide you with an additional source of income.

Finally, notarial appointments in England and Wales are for life, unlike some other jurisdictions. This means that if you decide to go ahead with the Notarial Practice Course and become a qualified Notary Public in England & Wales, you will have this qualification with you forever. ■

Alicia Fernández Fontalba

Alicia Fernández Fontalba

Trainee Solicitor, Notarial Practice Course Graduate