Darren Perry is a Senior Associate Solicitor and Notary Public. Most people can define the role of a Solicitor, but what is a Notary Public?
What is a Notary Public?
Darren is one of around just 770 Notaries in the UK. A Notary Public is a specialist lawyer who has the legal ability to notarise documents. Notaries are appointed by the Court of Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury and are subject to regulation by the Master of the Faculties. In most cases a Notary Public is a Solicitor that has taken a further qualification to become a Notary Public.
What does a Notary do?
There are certain documents which may require a Notary to complete. Documents which require a Notary can vary, but can include*:
- Preparing and authenticating powers of attorney for use overseas
- Dealing with purchase or sale of land and property abroad
- Authenticating foreign wills and providing documents to deal with the administration of the estates of people who are abroad, or owning property abroad
- Authenticating personal documents and information for immigration or emigration purposes, or to apply to marry or to work abroad, such as education or professional qualifications or declarations of freedom to marry
- Authenticating company and business documents and transactions or providing certificates as to the status of a company or the identity of its directors
How does a Notary differ from a Solicitor?
The rules which affect Notaries are very similar to the rules which affect Solicitors. They must be fully insured and maintain fidelity cover for the protection of their clients and the public. They must keep clients' money separately from their own and comply with stringent practice rules and rules relating to conduct and discipline. Notaries have to renew their practising certificates every year and can only do so if they have complied with the rules*.
In addition to having the honour of such as prestigious role, Darren is also a practising Solicitor, dealing with Private Client work with a particular focus on Complex Estates, Trusts and Tax.
From work, to home…
Darren’s work is never dull, and neither is his homelife! Darren has two adult children, a rescue cat called Jim and a Harley Davidson. In his spare time, he enjoys music, reading, going to the theatre and generally being outdoors. His passion for Italy has taken him and his wife on many an Italian adventure, and when he isn’t jetting off to the Amalfi Coast.
Darren is conveniently based in the Midlands and able to assist clients with documentation throughout Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. He is also more than happy to arrange visits to a client’s home to complete paperwork, if more convenient.
He is a member of Solicitors for the Elderly and STEP.
A Notary Public’s main duty is to authenticate documents and facts for use within and outside England and Wales. A notary can also advise upon and draft documentation where required.
I am appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in accordance with the relevant Acts of Parliament. I am supervised by The Faculty Office, 1 The Sanctuary, Westminster, London SW1P 3JT.
I am normally available between 9am and 5pm Mondays to Fridays although I am usually happy to see clients outside of these hours and at weekends in an emergency and if I am available. All appointments must be pre-arranged to avoid inconvenience. Appointments are to be held at mutually convenient locations. If deemed appropriate, travelling time and parking fees will be charged to the client.
PROCEDURES
As a Notary it is my duty to ensure that the people appearing before me are properly identified and I normally require sight of each person’s passport and one other item with their current address on (e.g. current driving licence or recent utility bill or bank statement dated within the previous 3 months). If these are not available then I will need to discuss what satisfactory evidence can be produced. All transactions by limited companies need to be supported by similar evidence of the identity of the appearing officers of the company and in most cases the relevant resolutions authorising the transaction. I make a search at the Companies Registry to check the status of the company and its officers. I can prepare the necessary resolutions if required.
I can prepare or assist with the preparation of documents if required but if thy are to be used in another jurisdiction, I do not advise on the content or effect of the documents I am asked to authenticate and advice should be sought from competent advisers as to what transaction is being entered into (this frequently means obtaining advice from foreign lawyers acting for the appearors in the transaction). My duty is limited to ensuring that the appearors understand the nature, type and effect of the transaction they are entering into. This can present problems if the document is in a foreign language unless I am satisfied that the appearors totally understand the document. If I am asked to work in a foreign language which I do not understand sufficiently, I may have to ask for a translation or restrict my authentication.
I keep a record of all documents I authenticate and for this purpose I maintain a Register. Copies of my records can be made available for a fee to the parties to the transaction and to anyone else who can prove that they hold an interest in the matter. I may need to seek approval from my governing body before releasing copies or information about an Act or I may request a court order. Under the legislation relating to money laundering, some transactions may be reported to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
LEGALISATION
Many countries wish to be sure that I am properly authorised to act as a Notary. This is done by a procedure call legalisation. For most countries this means applying to the Foreign Office Legalisation Office for an Apostille. Some countries require documents to be legalised by their consuls in addition to this. I can arrange legalisation via an agent but you may wish to deal with this yourself. Please see the FCO website for more details https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised Please note that where an Agent is used for legalisation, additional fees are charged by the agent and these will be met by you. I do not routinely chase up documents that have been sent on for legalisation. I will discuss the best options with you based on your timescales and costs requirements and I will provide you with an estimate of the time that it should ordinarily take to legalise your documents.
TERMS OF BUSINESS
Basis of the retainer
I contract only on the basis of these conditions with you, the Client.
Fees and Disbursements
I charge fees based on the time taken for the whole matter (including making the appointment travelling or waiting time and the time needed to make the record) at rates which are reviewed from time to time. I also charge out of pocket expenses, for example fees payable to the Foreign Office, Foreign Embassies or agents dealing with legalisation of documents or postage or courier charges. Travel expenses to and from appointments away from my usual place of business are charged half my usual hourly rate. My bill must be paid on presentation, and documents may not be released until it has been paid in cleared funds. My costs and expenses must be paid in cash, direct transfer or by cheque.
Postage
If I need to post documents to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Embassies, clients or agents, the documents will be sent by standard first class post unless otherwise instructed by the client. The client will be responsible for any additional postage costs over and above standard first class post. Please note that any documents posted by me on behalf of the Client are posted at the Client’s risk. If a document is therefore lost in the post, the Client will be responsible for any costs and disbursements incurred in the preparation and completion of any new\replacement document required.
Client’s money
If I am asked to hold client’s money I will do so in accordance with the relevant Notaries’ Practice and Accounts Rules paying interest when required to do so by the Rules. To comply with my obligations under the Criminal Justice Act 1993, the proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 1993, 2001 and 2003. I reserve the right to ask for evidence of the source of any funds provided to me or involved in the transaction.
Verification of facts
Part of the notary’s role is to check the facts in the documents he notarises for his clients, and this sometimes involves obtaining evidence or proof from sources independent of the Client. In this I need the Client’s full co-operation. If I have to add disclaimers to the document to make it clear that there are facts which I have not been able to verify the document may become useless or of less benefit to the Client and I will not accept liability if this is the case.
Ceasing to act
I may consider that I ought to stop acting for the Client. For example, if the Client cannot give clear or proper instructions on how I am to proceed. I may decide to stop acting only with good reason, for example, if the matter on which I am instructed involves fraud or violence, or if the Client does not pay a bill.
Storage of documents
I will store without charge to the Client a copy of any notarial act for a period of 6 years from today. I will not always keep a full copy of the Client’s own document but I reserve the right to do so. A charge will be levied for any requests for further copies of documents held by me.
Limitation of liability
I maintain professional indemnity insurance in the sum of £1,000,000 (one million pounds). Save as provided under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, my liability to the Client for any loss, injury or damage of any nature whatever whether direct or consequential, including without limitation in respect of negligence or breach of my duty to the Client, is hereby limited to such sum in respect of any one claim or a series of related claims. These terms of business and any disputes or claims arising out of or in connection with them and the provision of services to you are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
Complaints Procedure
notarial practice is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury; The Faculty Office, 1, The Sanctuary, Westminster, London, SW1P 3JT, Telephone 020 7222 5381, Email Faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com, Website www.facultyoffice.org.uk, If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me. If we are unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to the Notaries Society of which I am a member, who have a Complaints Procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute. In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to; The Secretary of The Notaries Society, Old Church Chambers, 23 Sandhill Road, St James, Northampton, NN5 5LH, Email secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk, Tel : 01604 758908. If you have any difficulty in making a complaint in writing please do not hesitate to call the Notaries Society/the Faculty Office for assistance. Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Notaries Society Approved Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure, or after a period of 6 months from the date you first notified me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman*, if you are not happy with the result; Legal Ombudsman, P O Box 6806,Wolverhampton. WV1 9WJ, Tel : 0300 555 0333, Email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, Website www.legalombudsman.org.uk. If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and six years from the date of act/omission; or three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint (only if the act or omission took place more than six years ago). The act or omission, or when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5th October 2010. *certain kinds of commercial entities are not eligible to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman – please refer to the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules or consult the Faculty Office.
Data Protection
You shall and you hereby agree to indemnify the Business and its affiliates and their officers, employees, agents and subcontractors (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any claims, losses, demands, actions, liabilities, fines, penalties, reasonable expenses, damages and settlement amounts (including reasonable legal fees and costs) incurred by any Indemnified Party arising out of or in connection with any breach by you of the warranties included in paragraph 9 of The Data Protection Privacy Notice a copy of which has been mailed to you.
Your personal data will be processed in connection with notarial and associated services and related business activities. Please view our privacy notice (address below) for further information. If you provide services to our Notary Business you agree to comply with the data processing terms (“Terms”) which can be accessed via the address below. Your attention is particularly drawn to clause 8 of the Terms. To the extent of any conflict, the Terms shall prevail over any services agreement or other agreement between you and our Notary Business in relation to the services.
Acceptance of these Terms
Your instructions (or (if relevant and as the case may be) your continuing instructions) will amount to your acceptance of these Terms of Business.
My notarial practice is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Faculty Office
1 The Sanctuary Westminster London
SW1P 3JT
T: 020 7222 5381
E: faculty.office@1thesanctuary.com
W: www.facultyoffice.org.uk
If you are dissatisfied about the service you have received please do not hesitate to contact me. If I am unable to resolve the matter you may then complain to The Notaries’ Society of which I am a member, who have a complaints procedure which is approved by the Faculty Office. This procedure is free to use and is designed to provide a quick resolution to any dispute. In that case please write (but do not enclose any original documents) with full details of your complaint to:
C J Vaughan
The secretary, The Notaries’ Society
PO Box 7655
Milton Keynes
MK11 9NR. T: 01604 758908
E: secretary@thenotariessociety.org.uk
W: http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/complaints
If you have any difficulty making a complaint in writing, please do not hesitate to call the Notaries’ Society for assistance. Finally, even if you have your complaint considered under the Complaints Procedure, you may at the end of that procedure or after a period of eight weeks from the date you first notified me that you were dissatisfied, make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if you are not happy with the result:
Legal Ombudsman
Baskerville House, Centenary Square Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2ND
T: 0300 555 0333
E: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
W: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
If you decide to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must refer your matter to the Legal Ombudsman within twelve months from the conclusion of the complaint process.
The business of Darren Paul Perry – Notary Public of Fishers Solicitors of Ivanhoe Business Park, Unit R Ashby de la Zouch Leicestershire LE65 2AB (“Business”, “we”, “us”, “our”). The Business is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) under number Z2864403.
If you have any questions about this privacy notice (“Notice”), please contact us by email to darren.perry@smithpartnership.co.uk.
The Business will process your and third parties’ personal data, as further explained below, in the course of providing you with notarial and associated services (“Services”).
We will let you know, by posting on our website, if we make any changes to this Notice from time to time. Your continued use of the Services after notifying such changes will amount to your acknowledgement of the amended Notice.
PLEASE NOTE: You shall and you hereby agree to indemnify the Business and its affiliates and their officers, employees, agents and subcontractors (each an “Indemnified Party”) from and against any claims, losses, demands, actions, liabilities, fines, penalties, reasonable expenses, damages and settlement amounts (including reasonable legal fees and costs) incurred by any Indemnified Party arising out of or in connection with any breach by you of the warranties included in paragraph 9.
What is Personal Data?
“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, known as ‘data subject’, who can be identified directly or indirectly; it may include name, address, email address, phone number, IP address, location data, cookies and similar information. It may also include “special categories of personal data” such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a data subject, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
The Business may process personal data and special categories of personal data which you provide in connection with the Services about yourself and other data subjects, e.g. individuals whose details are included in any materials provided by you to the Business. The Business may obtain information about you and other data subjects from third party service providers, such as due diligence platforms. If you use our online Services, the Business may collect information about your devices including clickstream data.
The provision of certain personal data is mandatory in order for the Business to comply with mandatory client due diligence requirements and consequently to provide the Services. You warrant on a continuous basis that such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date. Failure to comply may result in documents being rejected by the relevant certification authorities, held invalid in the destination country or other difficulty to successfully completing the Services.
In relation to personal data of data subjects you warrant to the Business on a continuous basis that:
(a) where applicable, you are authorised to share such personal data with the Business in connection with the Services and that wherever another data subject is referred to, you have obtained the explicit and demonstrable consent from all relevant data subjects to the inclusion and use of any personal data concerning them;
(b) to the extent this is required in connection with the Services, such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date; and
(c) either you provide your explicit consent and warrant that each data subject has provided explicit consent for the transfer of personal data to foreign organisations in connection with the Services as set out at paragraph 18, or that an alternative legal gateway for such transfer (such as transfer necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject) has been satisfied.
How do we use your personal data?
The Business will only process personal data, in accordance with applicable law, for the following purposes:
(a) responding to your queries, requests and other communications;
(b) providing the Services, including, where applicable, procuring acts from foreign organisations;
(c) enabling suppliers and service providers to carry out certain functions on behalf of the Business in order to provide the Services, including webhosting, data storage, identity verification, technical, logistical, courier or other functions, as applicable;
(d) ensuring the security of the Business and preventing or detecting fraud;
(e) administering our Business, including complaints resolution, troubleshooting of our website, data analysis, testing of new features, research, statistical and survey purposes;
(f) developing and improving our Services;
(g) complying with applicable law, including Notary Practice Rules, guidelines and regulations or in response to a lawful request from a court or regulatory body.
The legal basis for our processing of personal data for the purposes described above will typically include:
· processing necessary to fulfil a contract that we have in place with you or other data subjects, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d);
· your consent, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraph (e);
· processing necessary for our or a third party’s legitimate interests, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g) and (h), which is carried out on the basis of the legitimate interests of the Business to ensure that Services are properly provided, the security of the Business and its clients and the proper administration of the Business; and
· processing necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, such as processing for the purposes set out in paragraph (i).and
· any other applicable legal grounds for processing from time to time.
Disclosure of personal data
There are circumstances where the Business may wish to disclose or is compelled to disclose your personal data to third parties. These scenarios include disclosure to:
· our subsidiaries or associated offices;
· our suppliers and service providers to facilitate the provision of the Services, including couriers, translators, IT consultants and legalisation and other handling agents, webhosting providers, identity verification partners (in order to verify your identity against public databases), consultants, for example, in order to protect the security or integrity of our business, including our databases and systems and for business continuity reasons;
· public authorities to carry out acts which are necessary in connection with the Services, such as the Foreign Office;
· foreign organisations to carry out acts which are necessary in connection with the Services, such as Embassies, Consulates and High Commissions;
· professional organisations exercising certain public, governance and archiving functions in relation to the notaries profession, such as Chambers of Commerce, The Notaries Society and the Faculty Office;
· subject to your consent, our advertising and marketing partners who enable us, for example, to deliver personalised ads to your devices or who may contact you by post, email, telephone, SMS or by other means;
· successor or partner legal entities, on a temporary or permanent basis, for the purposes of a joint venture, collaboration, financing, sale, merger, reorganisation, change of legal form, dissolution or similar event relating to a Business. In the case of a merger or sale, your personal data will be permanently transferred to a successor company;
· public authorities where we are required by law to do so; and
· any other third party where you have provided your consent.
International transfer of your personal data
We may transfer your personal data to a third party in countries outside the country in which it was originally collected for further processing in accordance with the purposes set out above. In particular, your personal data may be transferred to foreign organisations such as foreign Embassies located in the UK or abroad. Such organisations will process personal data in accordance with the laws to which they are subject and international treaties over which the Business has no control.
If the Business transfers personal data to private organisations abroad, such as subcontractors, it will, as required by applicable law, ensure that your privacy rights are adequately protected by appropriate technical, organisation, contractual or other lawful means. You may contact us for a copy of such safeguards in these circumstances.
Retention of personal data
Your personal data will be retained for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes listed above or as required by the law. For example, the Notaries Practice Rules require that that notarial acts in the public form shall be preserved permanently. Records of acts not in public form shall be preserved for a minimum period of 12 years. Please contact us for further details of applicable retention periods. Personal data may for reasons of security and convenience be stored on remote data facilities but in an encrypted form.
Security of personal data
The Business will implement technical and organisational security measures in order to prevent unauthorised access to your personal data.
However, please be aware that the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Whilst we can do our best to keep our own systems secure, we do not have full control over all processes involved in, for example, your use of our website or sending confidential materials to us via email, and we cannot therefore guarantee the security of your information transmitted to us on the web.
Data subject rights
Data subjects have numerous rights in relation to their personal data. For further information about your data protection rights please visit the ICO website.
· Right to make a subject access request (SAR). Data subjects may request in writing copies of their personal data. However, compliance with such requests is subject to certain limitations and exemptions and the rights of other data subjects. Each request should make clear that a SAR is being made. You may also be required to submit a proof of your identity and payment, where applicable.
· Right to rectification. Data subjects may request that we rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
· Right to withdraw consent. Data subjects may at any time withdraw their consent to the processing of their personal data carried out by the Business on the basis of previous consent. Such withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on previous consent.
· Right to object to processing, including automated processing and profiling. The Business does not make automated decisions. Profiling may be carried out for Business administration purposes, such as monitoring trends in user visits of our website, and in order to deliver targeted ads. The Business may use third party due diligence platforms which provide recommendations about data subjects by automated means. We will comply with any data subject’s objection to processing unless we have a compelling overriding legitimate ground for the processing, the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or we have another lawful reason to refuse such request. We will comply with each valid opt-out request in relation to marketing communications.
· Right to erasure. Data subjects may request that we erase their personal data. We will comply, unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so. For example, there may be an overriding legitimate ground for keeping the personal data, such as, our archiving obligations that we have to comply with.
· Restriction. Data subjects may request that we restrict our processing of their personal data in various circumstances. We will comply, unless there is a lawful reason for not doing so, such as, a legal obligation to continue processing your personal data in a certain way.
· Right to data portability. In certain circumstances, data subjects may request the controller to provide a copy of their personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and have it transferred to another provider of the same or similar services. To the extent such right applies to the Services, we will comply with such transfer request. Please note that a transfer to another provider does not imply erasure of the data subject’s personal data which may still be required for legitimate and lawful purposes.
· Right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. We suggest that data subjects contact us about any questions or complaints in relation to how we process personal data. However, each data subject has the right to contact the relevant supervisory authority directly.
The following information if provided in accordance with The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 para 6.-(1) (f)
- I am a member of the Notaries Society, the representative body for notaries in England and Wales.
- I am regulated by the Faculty Office.
- The applicable professional rules are the Notaries Practice Rules 2014 (as amended July 2017)
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU?
Whatever your needs, assets or personal situation, we will listen to you and provide friendly and practical advice. Understanding your circumstances is the most important thing, so if you prefer to meet in person, by video link or something else - no matter where you are, we’re here to drive the change you need, or solve the problems you have.
Make Any Enquiry Request a Callback Get a QuoteWhatever it is, it starts with a conversation
ON THE PHONE
During 9am-5.00pm in the week you can call us on
01530 412 167
ON THE WEBSITE
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ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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IN OUR OFFICES
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Why Fishers?
We are experts at what we do, with knowledge, insight and action you can trust. We listen and take the time to understand you, your circumstances and needs. It's more than experience and skill, our team bring passion. We offer recommendations that bring the complex down to earth.
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