If you are not able to visit South Africa to sign the documents to finalise your house sale, you will be asked to sign the documentation in front of a notary. You will usually have an attorney acting for you in South Africa and they will draft the necessary documents that require notarisation.
You will usually be asked to have the following documents notarised:
- Power of Attorney – to appoint an attorney to act on your behalf to appear at the office of the Registrar of Deeds in South Africa to pass the transfer of the land
- Personal Affidavit – to confirm your marital status and details of the property you are transferring
- Affidavit by Seller – this is normally required to confirm your name, residential address, South African income tax registration number and contact details.
In addition to the above documents, you may also need to have your ID (passport/South African ID card) and a proof of address notarised.
You may also be asked to have the documents, particularly the power of attorney, apostilled in addition to the notarisation. However, documents notarised by a UK notary public do not require any additional legalisation/apostille (r. 63(2)(e) of the South African Uniform Rules of Court (version as of 26th June 2009)).
In addition to the notary, you will also need to sign the power of attorney in front of two witnesses. We can usually provide the additional witnesses, although you may wish to check that we have capacity for this depending on your appointment time.
You will also need to initial the bottom right-hand corner of each page of the power of attorney and sign on the last page. The notary and the two witnesses will also need to initial each page.
Lastly, when signing documents for use in South Africa, you should always use black ink. If you use any other colour ink, your documents may be rejected in South Africa.
To find out more on how we can assist with the notarisation of your documents for use in South Africa, please do give us a call on 020 3668 6626 or email info@vpnotaries.co.uk.