Welcome to Fatchett Legalisation’s court document apostille service. We specialise in providing efficient and reliable apostille services to legalise court documents issued in the UK. Whether you need to authenticate your court documents for family, business, or legal reasons our professional team is here to help ensure your documents meet international standards. Trust our legalisation service to handle your apostille needs with precision and care.
Court documents include but are not limited to:
- County Court documents
- Court Of Bankruptcy documents
- Sheriff Court documents
- Family Division of the High Court of Justice documents
- High Court Of Justice documents
- Court orders and decisions
- Court judgements
- Decree Absolute from a divorce
- Decree Nisi from a divorce
- Last Will and Testament
- Grants of Probate
- Other official UK court issued documents
Why use Fatchett Legalisation for your Court Document Apostille?
- FREE Document reviews.
- FREE expert advice.
- Competitive prices.
- Money-back refund guarantee.
- Highly recommended.
Also, unlike many of our competitors, we are a firm of notaries. This means:
- We have more in-house expertise than most of our competitors, and can offer fast and expert advise without having to refer you to third parties.
- Our industry regulator holds us to a higher standard than most of our competitors.
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Court Document Formats for Apostille
You can get a court document apostille from the FCDO Legalisation Office for the following document formats:
- An original court document bearing the official court stamp, or sealed by the court or “wet ink” signed by a court clerk or other official of the court
- Your original court document not stamped, sealed, or signed
- A photocopy of your court document
- A printout of your electronic court document produced from the original PDF or other electronic document
You may not wish to send the original document by post. However, if you provide anything but an original document, the instrument must be certified by a solicitor or notary public in the UK before it can be apostilled.
In any case, the court documents (original or copy) may need to be notarised, instead of solicitor certified. Whether the intended use of the legalised court documents is for personal or business purposes is often the deciding factor between using the original or certified copies.
When the solicitor or notary public signs the document, they must:
- have a valid practising certificate
- sign the document in the UK
- state the action they have taken e.g. witnessed, certified a copy, confirmed as original
- use their personal signature, not a company signature
- include the date of certification
- include their name and company address
The solicitor or notary public’s signature must be an original, hand-written signature. The FCDO Legalisation Office will not accept a photocopy or scan of a signature. For the FCDO to accept the signature, the signatory must be registered in the FCDO database.
If they add a notarial certificate, it must be attached to the document. The certificate must also contain a specific reference to the document they have certified. If a notary public from England, Wales or Northern Ireland signs a document for legalisation, they must also stamp or emboss the document with their notarial seal.
Fatchett Legalisation has in-house solicitors and notaries to correctly handle this process for you.
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FAQ
Court documents are official files issued by a court of law. The term encompasses a variety of documents generated during legal proceedings, including court orders, motions, pleadings, and affidavits.
Court documents issued with a stamp and seal should be accepted by the majority of recipients. However, notarisation or apostille may be needed if:
- There is damage to stamp and/or seal on your document or they are obscured.
- There is not a seal. Orders from magistrates’ courts, the Crown Court, and other legal documents and correspondence may not be sealed.)
- The requesting country does not recognise the document’s seal or is insisting on an additional layer of authentication.
- The document was issued in electronic form only.
- The document is to be used in a significant legal context.
An apostille of a court document can be essential to authenticating a document for use in family, business, or legal matters overseas. International parties may request a verified copy of your court document. If they are in a country that is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, apostille is the preferable method of legalisation.
In the UK, you can get a court document apostilled through the Legalisation Office or FCDO-authorised service providers, such as Fatchett Legalisation. Our team is experienced in handling such requests, ensuring your document is processed efficiently and correctly.
In the UK, apostilles are issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Legalisation Office. When issuing an apostille, the FCDO will affix a certificate to the original documents to show that the document and signatures are genuine. However, authorised service providers like Fatchett Legalisation can facilitate the process on your behalf, making it more convenient and often faster. For further assistance or to initiate the apostille process for your court documents, please get in touch with Fatchett Legalisation. Our knowledgeable team is here to guide you through every step of the process.
We can arrange apostille for original court stamped, sealed. or “wet ink” signed court documents, unsigned documents or copies and print outs. However, unsigned documents, copies and print outs require solicitor certification or notarisation before submission to the FCDO.
The cost to apostille a court document can vary depending on the service provider, any requirements for solicitor certification or notarisation, and the urgency of the request. At Fatchett Legalisation, we offer competitive rates for apostille services. For detailed pricing, please contact our office or visit our website order form, where we regularly update our fee structure.
The time it takes to apostille a court document can vary. Typically, the process can take from a couple of working days to a couple of weeks, depending on the workload of the Legalisation Office. At Fatchett Legalisation, we offer expedited services to meet urgent requirements.
To obtain an apostille for a court document in the UK, follow these steps:
- Obtain an original court document stamped or sealed by the court or signed by an official of the court. Alternatively, obtain a copy of this document and have it certified or notarised.
- Submit the document to the Legalisation Office or authorised service, such as Fatchett Legalisation.
- Pay the necessary fees.
- Wait for the document to be processed and returned with the apostille.
At Fatchett Legalisation, we can streamline this process, ensuring your documents are handled correctly and efficiently.
An apostille is a certificate attached to your court document. It usually features a stamp or sticker and includes information such as the issuing country’s authentication, the identity of the official who signed the document, and the date of issue. It is designed to be easily recognisable by officials in foreign countries.
In the UK, apostilles are issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Legalisation Office. When issuing an apostille, the FCDO will affix a certificate to the documents to show that the document and signatures are genuine. However, authorised service providers like Fatchett Legalisation can facilitate the process on your behalf, making it more convenient and often faster. For further assistance or to initiate the apostille process for your court document, please get in touch with Fatchett Legalisation. Our knowledgeable team is here to guide you through every step of the process.
The FCDO will not issue an apostille certificate if the your original court document is not signed or sealed by the court, or signed by an official of the court. The FCDO will also reject photocopies or print outs of electronic copies that have not been certified or notarised by a UK solicitor or notary who has not registered their signature with the FCDO.
The Hague Convention simplifies the process of certifying or legalising documents, such as a court documents, for international use. An apostille certifies that a court document is authentic. The Hague Convention ensures that the apostille certification process is standardised across member countries.
At Fatchett Legalisation, we understand the details and requirements for obtaining an apostille for your documents. Trust our service to handle the certification of your documents efficiently under the Hague Convention’s guidelines.
Countries outside of the Apostille Convention will not recognise an apostilled court documents. As of July 2024, 127 states are contracting states of the Apostille Convention, but Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Vietnam (North) are not. Legalisation for these countries usually involves attestation at their UK embassy. Fatchett Legalisation can advise you on alternative methods of document legalisation for non-contracting locales.
It is also worth noting that although the FCDO may not require solicitor certification or notarisation for apostille of original court documents, the international authority my still require notarisation of the documents even if they are signed up to the Hague Convention!
Still have more questions?
Email us at legalise@fatchett.co.uk
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