What are the duties of a notary?
Buying a home, drawing up a marriage contract, applying for adoption - some legal transactions are so important that the law requires them to be notarized. But what is the path to the deed? What happens „behind the scenes“ once everyone has signed? Notaries provide advice and support from the initial idea through to implementation.
The path to the certificate
She's just reading aloud! „That's probably the most common prejudice I'm confronted with as a notary,“ says notary Dr. Irene Kämper, press officer of the Rhineland Chamber of Notaries. „Yet reading out the deed comes quite late in the process of assisting my clients - and is not even at the end of the process.“ Notarial work typically consists of four phases: Advice, preparation of a draft contract, notarization and execution - reading aloud only takes place during notarization.
The consultation as a starting point
Many matters begin with a consultation: the notary and the client work together to determine what is legally possible and which structure suits their personal life situation. Marriage contracts or wills in particular are so individual that it is almost impossible to do without a preliminary discussion. It is not necessary to bring a legal concept that is ready to print to the notary appointment. On the contrary: „Ideally, the clients have already thought about what they want. We then build on this,“ explains Kämper. What many people are not aware of is that if a notarization is required, the consultation is not billed separately. However, not all matters require a consultation: In the case of purchase agreements, for example, it is often a good idea to discuss individual clauses on the basis of an initial draft if necessary.
The draft as a result of the consultation
It is important that clients take the time to go through the draft provided by the notary thoroughly - despite the sometimes unwieldy technical language. This is not an end in itself: when push comes to shove, the contract must also stand up in court. The following always applies: if anything is unclear or if you have any questions, the notary and his staff will be happy to help.
Is reading aloud still up to date?
The notary then reads out the text of the contract during notarization. Is there still a place for reading aloud in the fast and digital world? Many steps are now carried out digitally, and some notarizations can even be carried out via video conference. „However, reading aloud is still of central importance: we take the time to go through the text of the contract together, check whether all wishes have been implemented and have the opportunity to explain questions and the complex legal jargon once again,“ says Kämper. In many cases, the deeds concern crucial life decisions: Marriage contract, first home, will. „Everything simply has to fit,“ summarizes Kämper.
Signed and then?
The notary's work is not done with the signature: the deed is executed. The notary obtains approvals, writes to banks, authorities and courts, checks incoming notices and declarations. Normally, clients are not even aware of everything that goes on „behind the scenes“. „And that's fine with most of them,“ says Kämper, „after all, who wants to take on the communication with the tax office, the courts or the city itself?“
Notaries accompany the entire process
How long the notarization takes and how intensively individual clauses are discussed is different for every legal transaction. Incidentally, this does not increase the notary fees.
More information and images on this and other topics can be found on the website of the media network of the chambers of notaries at: