Legislation In British Columbia

Our legal fees for our services “value-based”, which means that the depend on (a) the amount of time spent on that particular service, (b) the amount of documents needing to prepare and/or sign, and (c) the amount or liability that we’re getting ourselves exposed to by doing that particular transaction or signing those particular documents.

Our notarial status most often is verified for any notarized international documents to be used abroad. Although international documents have to go through a “cycle of authentications” in order to be legalized/authenticated and be accepted outside Canada, the first level of verification is normally the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia (“SNPBC”), which is the regulatory body of BC Notaries. The SNPBC can verify our status and confirm us being in “good standing”. Society of Notaries Public of BC: #8221

While Notaries are always approached with various documents to be notarized, there are documents that cannot just be “notarized”. First, any Agreements or Contracts that need signing and witnessing do not normally need to be “notarized”, since they are normally valid after being signed and witnessed by two witnesses. Moreover, the family-law related agreements (e.g. Cohabitation Agreements, Separation Agreements, etc.) cannot be witnessed by notaries, since that implies giving legal advice (and BC Notaries are not allowed to practice Family Law or any other type of law, except for Wills & Estates and Real Estates areas of law.)

The tradition of Notaries goes back over 2000 years- to the dawn of recorded history. Notaries laid down the Codex Hammurabi, the oldest evidence of recorded law. Notaries were also employed by the Catholic Church to guide the light of civilization through the Dark Ages. The Notary’s reputation for trustworthiness meant that documents retained a stable reliability throughout centuries of upheaval.

BC Notaries can provide non-contentious legal services, but they cannot argue cases before a judge. In spite of some opinions that Notaries are not allowed to provide legal advice, British Columbia Courts have confirmed that Notaries can and are obliged to give accurate legal advice in areas in which they are authorized to practice and to the same standard as solicitors who are members of the Law Society of British Columbia. Moreover, the Legal Profession Act does not give a complete monopoly on the giving of legal advice and there is an explicit exemption for BC Notaries:”(1)(1)(j)the lawful practice of a notary public”.

The four main areas in which Notaries normally practice are Real Estates, Wills & Estates, Notarization, and Contracts. However, on the Society of Notaries of BC’s website you can find a list of over 30 services that BC Notaries can practice. The important part for our clients is that all the professional work performed by a Notary Public is covered by our insurance plan that protects them.

Beside bring the documents to be notarized, you would need to present at least two pieces of identification. Normally, at least one of them should be a “ picture ID” and the secondary piece of identification could be any other government-issued ID or a signed credit card. (e.g. birth certificate, SIN card, Medical Service Card, passport, BC ID, credit card, etc.)