# Commision of oaths - Have I been ripped off?



## gia (2 Jun 2010)

Hi all,

I just went to a commision of oaths because my priest asked me to swear in front of a commision of oaths that I am free to marry.

I was charged €50 for this service. He gave me a piece of paper stating that I did swear in front of him. 

Have I been ripped off? 

Would you know if there is a standard fee he is supposed to charge? I would be okay with paying 10 or 20 euros for a signature, but 50 seems like a rip off.

I am looking forward to hear your comments.

Thank you.


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## DrMoriarty (2 Jun 2010)

gia said:


> Have I been ripped off?


Did you not ask in advance what it would cost?

Or ask the priest why you should have to furnish such a piece of paper?


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## Sandals (2 Jun 2010)

five years ago, same thing, had gone to gardai station who sent us to a semi-retired man up the road (as we had left it abit late), wouldnt take anything but eventually agreed to take €20 as he was horse betting man. Thought you only needed to swear if marrying abroad, no priest involvment in our marraige.


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## rockofages (2 Jun 2010)

I thought that was a regulated price of €10. That's what I have paid on each of the 3 occasions I was in the same boat.


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## gia (2 Jun 2010)

Hi rockofages, thank you for your reply. Did you bring the letter to be signed with you or did he provide it? Maybe this makes the difference in price?


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## gia (2 Jun 2010)

Hey sandals, thank you for the feedback. We are getting married abroad, so this is why they are probably asking for it. But it is a rip off. I just want to understand if it is legal to charge me 50 euro for less than 5 minutes of work.


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## gia (2 Jun 2010)

Hi DrMoriaity,

No, I did not ask in advance. It was a friend of a friend, and I actually though it was going to do it for free. Then I got the surprise. I had to pay, because of the situation (my friend was there too), but now I am too upset and I want to understand if I should go back to him and ask for a refund (I did not use this document yet). He did not even issue an invoice! I wonder if he's going to pay taxes on those 50 euros!


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## rockofages (2 Jun 2010)

You might want to see here:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/civil-law/commissioners_for_oaths



> There is a standard fee of €10 euro per signature for verifying statements.


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## gia (2 Jun 2010)

Thanks rockofages. I did find that page earlier on, and it looks like I should have paid €10. But maybe I am wrong. I guess what I could do is call 3 or 4 commissioners tomorrow and ask how much it would be with them. If they all say 10 Euro than I've been ripped off.


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## paddyc (3 Jun 2010)

Did you "swear" in front of the commisioner again when you got the bill  

Got married last year and we didn't have to do that at all, was some paper work and verbal stuff to the priest. The pre-marriage course yoke is a racket though, something like €200 I if recall correctly.


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## Vanilla (3 Jun 2010)

Did you bring an affidavit with you, and just swear it in front of the Commissioner or did he draft the affidavit for you?

If he drafted the affidavit for you then he's entitled to charge for that. If you just swore a pre-printed affidavit in front of him then usually he would only charge 10 per signature ( plus 5 for each/any exhibits).

You have to bear in mind that as Commissioner for Oaths we can get requests several times a day to swear documents which is relatively straightforward. In fact we don't usually charge for existing clients but we would charge someone who wasn't. But drafting, typing, printing and then swearing an affidavit is more than a minute's work and is preventing the Commissioner from doing other work which is more than likely more lucrative so a fee has to be charged to reflect that.  Again we probably wouldn't charge existing clients but otherwise we would.


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## rockofages (3 Jun 2010)

gia said:


> Thanks rockofages. I did find that page earlier on, and it looks like I should have paid €10. But maybe I am wrong. I guess what I could do is call 3 or 4 commissioners tomorrow and ask how much it would be with them. If they all say 10 Euro than I've been ripped off.



As I said, 3 times for me, €10 each time. Post up here how you get on.


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## nuac (3 Jun 2010)

A Commr for Oaths or practising solicitor should charge only €10 plus €2 for each exhibit for swearing an affidavit.

Extra charge might be justified if (s)he has to draft or amend it for you.

In some matters an affidavit for use abroad has to be completed before a Notary Public. Notaries fees are higher.


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## Moral Ethos (3 Jun 2010)

Indeed. I have paid around €30 for a notary public before. 

Generally I have never paid for commissioner for oaths services.


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