Document legalisation by Notary Public in Guildford

danrop

Hi,

I need to get a single document (a studentship confirmation letter from a UK university) legalised through a notary. I called up a couple of solicitors' offices, and they both quoted a price of £70. Can I do any better?

Edit: It can either be a solicitor or a notary (no idea if that should make any difference to the cost, but when I called up the solicitors' offices, I said I needed a notary public).
Some more information, if it makes any difference: basically I need to get this document attested by the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) and they require that it be signed by a notary or solicitor first.

TIA

Savvy_Sue

I have a feeling that if you go to the Magistrates courts you can get official things signed / witnessed etc for free or very little.

Also cheaper than a solicitor used to be a Commissioner of Public Oaths, can you find one of them?

Bossyboots

All solicitors are now commissioners for oaths. Witnessing a document by a solicitor is £5 for the document and £2 each for any attachments to it.

Special registration is required by Notary Publics at large expense, so they in turn make large charges for their services. Notaries these days can be few and far between.

If the document definitely only needs witnessing by a solicitor and not a notary (it is vital you have this bit right - Notaries usually deal with documents to be used abroad) then you should be able to walk in to pretty much any High Street solicitor and get it done on the spot for the prices I have mentioned.

danrop

Thank you both for the useful answers!
The web page on fco.gov.uk under their "document legalisation" section says that "all educational documents must be signed by a UK solicitor or notary before they can be legalised."

So I think I'll be all right if I go with a solicitor, since you're saying it's cheaper?

danrop

Bossyboots wrote: »

All solicitors are now commissioners for oaths. Witnessing a document by a solicitor is £5 for the document and £2 each for any attachments to it.

Are solicitors legally required to witness a document for £5 only? Or can they charge more than that?