Hi,

My Grandma died earlier this year in England, and it's almost at the point where the house sale will be complete and the various money paid out to beneficiaries (which I am one of them).

The solicitor in England dealing with it all requires a certified copy of my ID (passport, driving license, etc.) and proof of address (bank statement, utility bill, etc) to be sent over.

While the solicitor there mentioned getting it done by a solicitor local, I know they do accept others who can certify as my mum (based in Scotland) had it done by a teacher and that was acceptable.

Is there a list of who is authorised here to certify copies of ID? I'm hoping there's people like teachers, pastors, etc. so I can avoid having to pay a notary public or the likes. Pastor is probably easiest, but we could likely find a teacher friend too.

I guess it'd make most sense to have someone in a profession that would be authorised both here and in England. I don't want to pay to mail it over and then find out they reject it, both adding to the cost and delaying the overall process.

Thanks!

Graham.

Certified copy in England and Wales simply requires a Commissioner for Oaths to certify it.

Go to your local bank, they will likely have one or two members of staff that can do this for you. Failing that, most clerks at a Courthouse will likely be a Commissioner for Oaths too.

We just looked up notaries online.

I think the guy we used only charged $5 per visit...hardly worth his time or the ink on his stamp...

Depending on where you are I can dig out his info if you like and send it to you. He is in Vaughan.

Thanks for the advice all.

We decided to ask the solicitor in England and see what she'd accept. She sent us this link: https://www.gov.uk/certifying-a-document

She's said that if I send her scanned copies via email first, she can verify that everything is acceptable before I spend the money (which can be a lot, if I choose to use something more secure given it is ID copies) to send them internationally.

Thanks again,

Graham.

I’m surprised the UK solicitor thinks this is a requirement, but that’s not your question.

Local town halls/municipalities here (Qc) have someone registered (a commissioner?) to certify “true copy” of ID documents free of charge. Might Ontario have similar?

Notary Public seems to be what you'd want over here.

https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov....ublic/faqs.php

It seems the AG won't provide a list of them. But if you search, for example, for Notary Public Oakville, then you should get a list.

From the quick search I did, it doesn't seem to be free.

So am I. My FIL left a bit to our sons living in Regina and Berlin at the time. The UK solicitor only required their banking details.

Yep, I wish it were the case that I didn't have to physically send them.

But I don't think I'll get too far with arguing the case - I guess it must be company policy...

Thanks again for all your help,

Graham.