Friends,
When navigating a divorce, Any divorce, there is a 100 per cent certainty that at some point you will require a notary public to sign official government and contractual documents. You do not necessarily need to be going through a divorce to require a notarized document – if you apply for a pension, government benefits or are buying a property, you may require a certified copy of an official document, which I would be more than happy to help you with, because good news! I am a notary public.
I have the awesome ability to officially notarize contracts, promissory notes and a variety of other legal documents. These notary public powers are drawn from Ontario’s provincial legislation.
A common notarization that a family law lawyer provides in is a “Travel Document”. A notarized travel letter is required when one parent, or a grandparent, or family friend, is taking your child to travel outside of Canada. This legal and notarized document is required to enter other countries with a minor, as well as when coming back into Canada when the minor is not travelling with both parents.
It is also possible to notarize a copy of your child’s Health Card or Birth Certificate, so that both parents have a legal copy of these important documents, which I strongly recommend doing. An Ontario notary public can also witness or certify, and attest, the execution of a document, and certify and attest documents to be true copies of the original.
Notarizing documents does not take much time or effort. Basically, a notary public reviews your documents to ensure their accuracy and makes them official, or “certifies” them with a stamp and signature.
How is your document notarized?
An Ontario notary reviews, signs and seals your document. The notary can also prepare a separate certificate (sign it and attach it to your document). There are other ways to notarize documents in Ontario, such as going to a Commissionaire office. But, when going through a divorce, having an inhouse notary public is a great way to save time and money! Why not save a trip and have all your legal documents under the same roof, handled by the same energetic and competent legal team? Having a notarized copy of
your Separation Agreement or Divorce Order is helpful when you must deal with the government or banks.
From my experience, the average person does not dedicate that much time thinking or learning about official document notarization, so having to deal with a lot of it all at once while navigating a divorce can be overwhelming.
I would be happy to explain the process in greater detail and answer specific questions you may have regarding notarization.
