Can a solicitor certify documents?

What a certified copy is

A certified copy is a photocopy that a professional person has signed and dated to confirm it matches the original they were shown. It is not a legal ruling on the document and it does not verify that the document itself is genuine. It says one thing: this copy and that original are the same.

Banks, lenders, employers, universities and government departments ask for them so they can keep a file copy without holding your passport for a fortnight. The documents gov.uk lists as commonly certified are passports, photocard driving licences, letters from a government department, bank, building society or credit card statements, gas, electricity or council tax bills, and letters from a hospital or doctor.

Who can certify a document

gov.uk says the copy must be certified by a professional person or someone well respected in your community, and names these as people to ask if they offer the service:

• A bank or building society official
• A councillor
• A minister of religion
• A dentist
• A chartered accountant
• A solicitor or notary
• A teacher or lecturer

The disqualifications matter more than the list. The person certifying must not be related to you, must not live at the same address, and must not be in a relationship with you. A solicitor who is also your brother-in-law cannot certify your passport copy, and the organisation receiving it will often ask.

The other rule worth reading twice: check with the organisation that needs the copy first. Some lenders will only accept certification from a solicitor or an accountant. Some embassies will only accept a notary. gov.uk sets the floor; the recipient sets the standard.

The wording a certified copy must carry

The certifier writes on the copy:

Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by me

Then they:

1. Sign the document.
2. Date it.
3. Print their name under the signature.
4. Add their occupation, address and telephone number.

Four elements, and a copy is rejected for missing any of them. If a firm hands back a page with a stamp and a signature but no printed name or contact details, ask them to complete it before you leave.

Take the original with you. The certification is a statement that the certifier saw it, which they cannot make from a scan you emailed.

Certification in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Certification works the same way in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The wording is identical, the disqualifications are identical, and a copy certified by a solicitor in Glasgow is accepted by a bank in Cardiff.

The wrinkle is the regulator named on the certificate. A Scottish solicitor is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland and a Northern Irish solicitor by the Law Society of Northern Ireland, so a recipient that insists on “an SRA-regulated solicitor” is asking for something a perfectly valid Scottish certification cannot provide. If the organisation has written its requirement that way, ask whether it means a regulated solicitor anywhere in the UK, because it usually does.

What certification costs

There is no set fee, and gov.uk states plainly that the person certifying may charge. In practice the price depends on who you ask rather than on the work, which is identical everywhere.

Where you go	What to expect
Your own solicitor, existing matter	Often no charge for a page or two, because the firm already holds your identification
A solicitor you are not a client of	A per-document fee, usually with a lower rate for further copies certified in the same appointment
Post Office	A counter service priced per document, useful out of office hours
Notary	Substantially more, because a notary’s act carries international recognition and is recorded

Ask for the price per document and per page before you hand anything over. A five-page bank statement certified page by page costs more than a firm quoting a single document fee, and neither approach is wrong until you have asked which one you are getting.

When you need a notary instead

Three situations need something other than a standard certification.

Documents going abroad. A foreign bank, court or registry will usually want a notary public, and often a notary’s certificate legalised with an apostille from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. A solicitor’s certification is not the same instrument and is regularly refused overseas.

Passport applications. HM Passport Office runs its own rules for who can countersign an application and certify photographs, and those rules override the general guidance.

Lasting powers of attorney. Certifying a copy of a registered lasting power of attorney has its own procedure and its own wording, because each page has to be certified rather than the document as a whole.

Why certified copies get rejected

Rejections almost always come down to four things, and all four are avoidable.

• A missing element. No printed name, no occupation, no contact number, or an illegible date. Check the four elements before you leave the office.
• The wrong certifier. Someone related to you, at your address, or outside the list the recipient accepts.
• Too old. Many banks and lenders will not accept a certification more than three months old, even though nothing in the guidance says so. Ask the recipient how recent it must be before you pay for it.
• The wrong instrument. The recipient wanted a notarised document or an apostille and the request said “certified”, which is a different thing.

If a copy is refused, ask the recipient in writing what it requires: who may certify, what wording it wants, and how recent the certification must be. That answer is quicker than a second guess and it is what a firm will ask you for anyway.

What to take to the appointment

Call the firm first and ask three things: whether they certify for non-clients, the fee per document, and what identification to bring. Then take the originals, the photocopies you want certified, and photographic identification.

Most high street firms handle this at reception in a few minutes. It is the smallest job a solicitor does, and a reasonable way to see how a firm treats someone who is not yet a client, which is worth knowing if you are also weighing them up for the work you actually need doing.