A Notary, or Notary Public, can authenticate or witness most documents. A Notary can also arrange legalisation or obtain Apostilles, if needed. You will often require the services of a Notary Public when you have documents which are needed to be used abroad. The Notary's signature and seal will verify to the authorities in that country that any relevant checks have been carried out and that the document has been properly signed. Notaries form a small, highly specialised branch of the legal profession, whose area of specialisation is the preparation and certification of documents so that they may be used effectively abroad. Solicitors form by far the largest part of the legal profession. They provide advice and representation to their clients on a wide variety of legal issues, usually within the legal framework of their country of residence. One important difference between a Notary and a solicitor is that whereas a solicitor's primary duty is to his client, the Notary's primary duty