For NSW Residents
If you’ve been asked to sign loan or mortgage documents for property in Queensland, but you live in New South Wales, you may need to sign those documents in front of a lawyer or a notary public.
Different banks, lenders and finance providers sometimes have different requirements for NSW residents when it comes to signing loan and mortgage documents for buying, selling or refinancing property in Queensland. While technically, you could sign these documents in front of a justice of the peace, you may be specifically instructed/required to sign in front of a lawyer or a notary public because of the additional obligations/requirements imposed on witnesses in these transactions.
In addition to verifying your identity when you sign these documents, your witness must also take reasonable steps to ensure that you are entitled to sign and they must keep a record of the steps taken or evidence of your entitlement.
Identity Evidence Required
Documents must be current and could include combinations such as the following:
- Australian passport + Australian driver’s licence + change of name or marriage certificate, if necessary
- proof of age card + full birth certificate + Medicare card + change of name or marriage certificate, if necessary
- Australian evidence of immigration status ImmiCard or Australian migration status ImmiCard + full birth certificate + another form of government-issued identity document + change of name or marriage certificate, if necessary.
Proof of Entitlement to Sign
Adequate evidence could consist of current documents such as:
- rates notice for the property issued by your local council
- current title search for the property
- registration confirmation statement for the property.
Do you have any questions regarding this article?
Whether you’re notarising a document for the first time or the hundreth time, the requirements, processes, and terms can be confusing and daunting – or just a pain and a hassle (especially if you need an apostille, or to authenticate or legalise as well). Don’t worry! We’re here to simplify it, explain it, and help you with what you need to achieve it.
Contact us or visit our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about our notary public services. We’ve also created a flowchart to help explain notarisation, apostille, authentication and legalisation.
So, what’s next?
Visit our Notary Fees page for a free quote for our notary public services or just call us on +61 2 9687 8885 to speak with our friendly team about your requirements.
Why choose Phang Legal for your notary public services?
We’re a leading provider of notary public services in Sydney known for our experience and expertise in notarising documents for other countries, our low-cost fixed fees and service offering, and our availability to help on short notice. With our offices conveniently located in Parramatta, the geographic centre of the Sydney metropolitan area, we help clients from across Sydney and beyond with personal, professional and timely notary public services.
Notary Public
This website is maintained by Phang Legal, a boutique law firm in Parramatta and a leading provider of quality notary public services to satisfied clients across Sydney.
Ern Phang is a director of Phang Legal and a notary public (since 2005). Ern regularly writes about his experiences as a notary public and the issues faced by his clients in sending documents to other countries.