Scott Baker of ZKS says: I have a unique designation as a Florida Civil-law Notary, conferred by the Secretary of State of Florida.
This designation is only open to lawyers in good standing for at least 5 years who receive education provided by the state and pass a qualification exam. The program was set up to support Florida’s role in international business by creating a class of professionals with legal standing equal to those of civil law countries. I am sure you are familiar with this aspect of civil law – it’s the notario in Spain; the notaio in Brasil; notaire in France; etc. The Florida Civil-law Notary has jurisdiction worldwide.
It is most surely NOT the same as the common “notary public” in the USA, who does not need to be educated or have any experience of any kind. The USA notary public also has no legal authority outside her or her home state.
I have been getting more work as a Civil-law Notary by people who have found me through our Secretary of State website. They are often desperate when they find me because they have been told by their home country that a regular US notary public is not an acceptable person to authenticate a document or take a sworn statement like a Power of Attorney (POA).
I have done several POAs for people who own real estate in Spain, for example. I have assisted with an M&A transaction involving a German company and a Spanish company who had a Swiss executive living in the USA. I just finished a small piece of M&A support work for Chris Cooke at Santiago Mediano in Madrid – and that work stemmed from an off-hand comment I made to Chris only 2-3 months ago about this designation. I’ve even helped a US couple disclaim their inheritance rights under Sharia law in United Arab Emirates, so that their deceased son’s estate could pass to their daughter-in-law.
Please feel free to reach out to Scott Baker sbaker@zkslaw.com for more information or if you and your clients have need of his services.