Why Should A Notary Public Notarize My Documents?
As a notary public in Vancouver, we sometimes get asked the question: What’s the purpose of notarizing a document? Why is this important?
Many people have had their documents notarized by a notary public, but not everyone knows why this process is important. Having a notary public notarize your documents isn’t just a best practice – it’s highly recommended, and can be mandatory in several cases.
You can learn more about the notarization of documents in our notary resources.
Why Notarization Is Important
Above all, the notarization process prevents fraud and identify theft. This is important. Did you know that in 2016, one in 10 people have been victims of fraud or online offences? This makes online fraud 20 times more likely than physical robbery.
Now imagine if fraud took place with high-risk documents – like your mortgage, or your will. That would be catastrophic – and is the reason why many documents (such as wills and powers of attorney) require notarization.
A second, more obvious reason is that notarization is required for many legal documents. These documents include (but are not exclusive to):
- Affidavits
- Statutory Declarations
- Certified Copies
- Conveyancing Documents
To have the above documentation become valid in Canada, you must have them notarized by a notary public or lawyer.
The last reason for notarization is that it’s extremely recommend to notarize anything that may be considered by a court, or another legal body. For example, an affidavit is a sworn statement that must be sworn and signed before a lawyer or notary public , otherwise it will likely not be accepted in court.
What Does A Notary Public Or Lawyer Contribute?
When a notary public or lawyer notarizes your document, they verify three important facts:
- The document being signed is authentic;
- The signor(s) are who they say they are; and
- All parties that signed the document, did so willingly, without being forced.
These three facts form the basis of notarization, ensuring that the documents and signors are legitimate.
Notarization of documents is highly recommended, and sometimes even mandatory. At Vancouver Downtown Notary, we make the entire notarization process as easy and straightforward as possible.
Whether you’re visiting our notary office in the heart of downtown Vancouver, or taking advantage of our mobile notary and same-day services, we aim to make accommodate you, and not the other way around.
If you have any questions about notarization, or anything you’d like to ask a notary public in Vancouver, please give us a call at 778-819-8553 and we’d be happy to help.
