How do I check a legal document?

Last reviewed: September 27, 2026 · Markdown version

Checking a legal document is two separate jobs: confirming it is genuine, which only the body that issued it can really do, and checking what it says, which is careful reading. People often do the second and assume the first. Below are official verification routes we read today, mostly in the UK and India, then a reading checklist of our own. None of this is legal advice; for anything with money or rights attached, a qualified professional where you live is the right second reader.

Genuine: ask whoever issued it

The principle is the same everywhere. A stamp, a seal or a letterhead can be copied; the issuer's own record cannot. So the check is always to go back to that record, through the issuer's official channel rather than a phone number or link printed on the document you are doubting.

Apostilles and legalised documents

An apostille is the certificate attached to a document for use abroad. For one issued in the UK, GOV.UK has a service to "verify either a paper or electronic Apostille certificate issued in the UK", and it needs "the date the Apostille was issued" and "the Apostille number", both printed on the certificate (Verify an Apostille, read 27 September 2026).

Be clear about what an apostille proves. The UK Legalisation Office "will check the document and see if any signatures, stamps or seals match their own records" (Get your document legalised, read 27 September 2026). That page does not say the office checks what the document says, so an apostille vouches for the signature or seal on it, not for the truth of its contents.

For apostilles from other countries, the Hague Conference, which looks after the Apostille Convention, says it "has no mandate to issue or verify Apostille Certificates"; only "designated Competent Authorities" of each member country can (HCCH Apostille Section, read 27 September 2026). Its page links to the list of those authorities and to the e-Registers that some of them run.

The person who signed it

If a solicitor in England or Wales prepared or certified the document, the Law Society's Find a Solicitor is "a free service for anyone looking for information about organisations or people providing legal services in England and Wales regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)" (Find a Solicitor — The Law Society, read 27 September 2026). Look the name up yourself and use the contact details the register gives, not the ones on the letter.

Property: the register, not the copy

For land in England and Wales, HM Land Registry lets anyone look up a property "even if you do not own it", and the title register usually shows "who owns the property" and "how much the property was last sold for". The important line for checking: "You can download online copies of the information but you cannot use them as proof of ownership." For proof, "You’ll need to order an official copy" (Search for land and property information, read 27 September 2026).

India: e-stamps and DigiLocker

Stamp paper bought electronically carries its own check. StockHolding's e-stamping site lists "Verify e-Stamp" as a public option and describes an "Online verification facility for authenticity" (e-Stamping, e-Registration Fee & e-Court Fee with StockHolding, read 27 September 2026). For documents issued into DigiLocker, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, the service describes itself as "a secure cloud based platform for storage, sharing and verification of documents & certificates" (DigiLocker, read 27 September 2026). Both pages describe the service rather than walking through each step, so follow the steps on the site itself.

Court papers

An order or judgment you have been handed can be compared with the court's own record of the case. How to find that record in US federal courts, England and Wales, and India is on our page on finding court documents online.

What it says: a reading checklist

This part is ours, not any authority's. Read with the document open beside the facts it depends on:

Names and numbers — every party's name, address and registration number, exactly as on their ID or company record. A one-letter difference is worth a question.
Completeness — page numbers run without gaps, and every schedule, annex or exhibit the text mentions is actually attached.
Dates — signed, effective and expiry dates, and whether notice periods are counted from the right one.
Defined terms — a capitalised word usually has a definition near the front, and that definition, not the everyday meaning, is what the document means.
Signatures — present wherever the document says a signature or witness is needed.

Long agreements are hard to read this way when they are scans, because you cannot search them for "notice" or "termination". Check whether yours has real text first, and see examples of legal documents for the kinds most households already hold.