What do Notary, Conveyancing and Collaborative Law mean?

If you look at the legal services offered by UK solicitors, it is self explanatory what some are dealing with such as divorce, copyright, wills, and road traffic offences but some are not so obvious. This article explains three common legal services that many people do not know.

Notary is a service whereby a solicitor officiates over non-contentious paperwork. A Notary will be an officer of the law and will hold a public office. Their duty is to prepare, attest, certify and authenticate documents for use in an intended country and they will seal these documents with the seal of the Notary. The seal will be registered with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, consulates and foreign embassies and is internationally recognised.

The most common things to request notarial services for are buying land overseas, authenticating personal documents for emigration or immigration, powers of attorney for use overseas and authenticating business documents and transactions.

Not all notaries are solicitors but many actually are. The difference between this service and other solicitor work is that the Notary has a duty to the agreement, not an individual, so can represent both parties and ensure fairness.

Conveyancing is for the transfer of rights to a property from one person to another or the granting of such things as mortgages, leases, rights of way or rights to fish on private land.

In English and Welsh law, verbally accepted offers on property aren’t legally binding until contracts are signed and exchanged which means that valuable time and money can be wasted if a deal falls through but gives the advantage of freedom before contract. When buying a property, the current system allows for gazumping (seller asking for more money from you or taking a higher offer from another bidder), gazundering (buyer lowers offer at the last minute) and gazanging (vendor decides not to move after all so pulls out completely). Conveyancing for a property can take up to 12 weeks from acceptance of an offer.

Collaborative law is used for divorcing or separated couples who wish to divide up their assets and arrange fair visiting rights for children without the upset of contested litigation and appearances in court. Each party signs a participation agreement which avoids litigation and binds the couple to the process.

Once an agreement has been reached it will be submitted to a court and made into an order if the court approves it.

Collaborative law is also used for other types of family law such as pre-marital contracts.

If you are in need of local solicitors and are searching online for things like ‘solicitors Southampton‘ and ‘solicitors Basingstoke‘, try adding in the type of service you require too. This may help you find a local solicitor offering the service you require a lot quicker.