Google/Search Engine Notary?

Why do you not recommend Googling (or use of search engine) for legal information?

You and I both engage on searching for information online on a daily basis. Google (or any other search engine) is not a bad place to start – to get some ideas, to find authoritative sources, and for generic reading purposes. However, search engines do not provide you with legal advice. Indeed, there are numerous studies published in academic journals that assessed the misinformation out on the internet to be a serious problem.

Without going into the depth of constitutional law matters – simply stated, the work of notaries are generally in the sphere of provincial laws. For example, land title and transfers, Wills, powers of attorney are all matters that are controlled by the provincial government.

You may search for some information online, with respect to Wills. However, you may end up with information that is from another province, state or even country. For example, if you search “witnessing wills”, your information could come from Toronto, Australia, United Kingdom or New Zealand. If you follow those advices, you may very well end up with a defective will.

Alternatively, you may get outdated information. In British Columbia, the Wills, Estate and Succession Act came into force on March 31, 2014. Even if you search specifically for information related to British Columbia, you could end up with information on the previous legislation that has since been repealed (i.e. Wills Act).

If you have a serious medical issue, you wouldn’t rely on the internet to diagnose you. So I ask you – why would you rely on the internet to solve your legal issues?

There are some reputable websites, referral sources, etc on my resource page. Again, the resources out there are not meant to replace independent legal advice.