A notary public in Raffles Xchange is a public servant appointed by a state official. The general focus of his or her job is to witness the documents’ verification and administer oaths. They serve to deter fraud, appearing as an impartial witness for legal documents such as affidavits, deeds or powers of attorney. The presence of a notary public helps to screen for imposters and make sure both parties are entering into an agreement knowingly and willingly.
Similarly, legalization is the process of proper authentication or screening of documents or the notary by the high commission or the embassy or the consulate of the country in which the document is to be used is authorized to or located in Singapore. In simple terms, it is the official confirmation of the originality of the documents or we can say that document legalization is just the confirmation that the stamp, seal or the signature showing in the document is genuine and not a fraud.
Raffles Xchange Notary Public Service Locations
What a notary public does is witness the signing of the documents and ask each party for a sworn oath of authenticity. A notary license holder is a person legally authorized by a state to administer oaths, take acknowledgments & certify documents. A notary shall exercise no power or jurisdiction in criminal cases.
A notary must ensure that the person signing a document to be notarized is who s/he says s/he is. Because identities are critical, a notary public may also spend some time verifying the names of the parties involved in the signing.
One misconception about a notary license is that his or her official signature and/or embossing stamp automatically makes a document 'true and legal'. Documents certified by notaries public are sealed with the notary's seal and are recorded by the notary public in a register maintained by him/her.
Each license holder shall have a seal of office, which shall be affixed to his instruments of publications and to his protestations. The term of office is usually four years commencing with the effective date specified in the notarial commission. The Office of the Secretary of State performs random background investigations on individuals submitting new or renewal notary public license applications. The applicant cannot act as a Notary Public until he receives his certificate of appointment from this office. An appointed license holder may begin notarizing documents after receipt of a certificate of appointment from the Secretary of State.
Introduction to the Power of Attorney Form
A Power of Attorney form refers to a lawful certificate that confirms the formation of a relationship among two persons, called an agent and a principal. This document allows the principal to authorize an agent to work on his behalf. There are many kinds of such forms. It may be general, where the agent can act on behalf of the principal for any matter, or it can be specific, allowing the agent to act on the part of the principal for certain predefined businesses only.
You'll need to sign a general Power of Attorney form when you authorize an attorney to fully take responsibility of acting on your behalf and represent you in all legal matters which may pertain to your property or finances or another legal matter pending against you..
A Power of Attorney form should necessarily contain the following information:
- The name and address of the principal
- Principal's social security number
- The duration of time for its validity
- It should clearly state the power resting with the agent
- Date and signature
For matters concerning estate tax, it should include the name of the deceased, date of his/her death and authorization of the agent.