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Notaries are organs of preventive justice. They are appointed by the Minister of Justice and hold public office. After completing two state law examinations, notaries undergo several years of specialised training to ensure their qualifications. Notaries act as service providers, but also as holders of public office. In this capacity, they represent the state, as indicated by their seal and the national coat of arms. Notarial deeds prove the agreement reached and the identity of the parties involved, even decades later. State registers (land registry, commercial register, register of associations) therefore rely on the accuracy of the notary's deed when making their entries.

As a mediator of the interests of the contracting parties, it is the notary's task to prevent unpleasant disputes in advance through appropriate arrangements and clear wording. The solutions developed by the notary and his team on the basis of the respective facts are recorded in the notarial deed. Notarial deeds have a particularly high evidential value. For significant legal transactions (e.g. buying a house, founding and restructuring companies), their inclusion is mandatory by law.

This ensures sound legal advice and dispute avoidance in the areas of notarial activity. This is because the costs of a subsequent legal dispute are usually significantly higher than the notary's fees. In addition, disputes cost time and are psychologically stressful.

Notarial certification or authentication is always required when prescribed by law. The most important notarial responsibilities lie in property law, inheritance and family law, and company law.

In property law, notaries are particularly responsible for contracts relating to the purchase and sale of real estate, as well as the creation, cancellation and modification of rights in rem to real estate (in particular land charges, residential rights, usufruct or easements). In family law, marriage contracts (including divorce agreements) and adoption applications in particular require notarisation. In inheritance law, the notary is responsible for certifying inheritance contracts as well as inheritance, compulsory portion and gift waiver agreements. Wills can be drawn up either before a notary or by hand, although a notarised will has various advantages. Applications for certificates of inheritance can also be certified by a notary. In company law, many procedures require notarisation, in particular the formation of a limited liability company (GmbH), a limited liability entrepreneurial company (UG) and a public limited company (AG), as well as amendments to the articles of association of these companies (in particular capital increases). Furthermore, all conversion measures require notarisation (including for partnerships). Registrations in the commercial, company, association, partnership and cooperative registers must always be certified by a notary.

Notaries are appointed by the state and hold public office. In this respect, they are more similar to judges than solicitors. Unlike judges – and like solicitors – notaries advise the parties involved. Unlike solicitors, however, notaries are obliged to remain neutral. Notaries therefore provide impartial advice and have the interests of all parties involved in mind. Their task is to work towards balanced arrangements. In contrast, solicitors represent interests. Anyone who wants to assert their interests unilaterally against the other side and possibly even take legal action must consult a solicitor. By structuring the legal transactions they supervise, notaries aim to prevent such disputes from arising in the first place.

You are free to choose which notary you consult. You are not obliged to choose a notary in your home town. It also does not matter whether the matter is related to the town in which the notary has his office.

However, notarisation (i.e. reading aloud, explaining and signing the deed) can generally only take place within the notary's official jurisdiction. The official jurisdiction is the district of the local court in which the notary is based. For notaries in Leipzig, the official jurisdiction is the city of Leipzig. Notaries are generally not permitted to notarise outside their official jurisdiction.

Example: You have had an accident and are in a hospital outside your home town. If you wish to have a document notarised there, a notary in Leipzig cannot do this unless there is imminent danger.

However, as long as the notarisation takes place in the notary's office, it is irrelevant where you live, where the property is located, where the company has its registered office, etc. The principle of free choice of notary applies.

Reading aloud during the notarisation ensures that you are fully aware of the content of the transaction and the implications of your declarations. Experience shows that reading aloud, as the most direct way of revisiting the text of the deed, often raises questions that the notary can then answer. Regardless of your questions, the notary will explain the most important contents again when reading the deed aloud. If necessary, final changes will be made to the text. This process ensures that all parties involved can be sure that everything is exactly as they want it when signing the contract.

In principle, the parties involved must appear in person at the notary's office for the notarisation. This makes sense, as the content of the deed is then read aloud to them (see above for the importance of reading aloud), they can hear the notary's explanations and any final questions can be clarified.

However, it often happens that individual parties are prevented from appearing in person, for example because they live far away. In such cases, a party may also be represented at their request. Where possible, the parties should be represented by a trusted person (e.g. a family member or solicitor). Representation by a non-authorised representative (unauthorised representative) is also possible . This can be the other party to the contract and, in some circumstances, a notary's employee. In this case, you must subsequently approve the statements made by this unauthorised representative. This subsequent approval must usually be certified by a notary, especially in the case of a house purchase. However, you can choose a notary in your area to certify the signature.

Unlike an appointment for notarisation, a consultation appointment can also be made online or by telephone if desired. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Since 1 August 2022, video notarisation and certification have been possible in certain cases regulated by company law. This applies to the notarisation of the formation of a limited liability company (GmbH) or limited liability entrepreneurial company (UG) as well as all registrations in the commercial, cooperative and partnership registers. The Federal Chamber of Notaries has created a specially secured video communication system for this purpose (further information is available at https://online-verfahren.notar.de). Video notarisation is an additional option. Of course, you can still seek advice on site.

In other cases, notarisation must still take place in person. However, appointments can always be made online or by telephone if desired. Please feel free to contact us about this.

If necessary, for example due to physical limitations, we can also arrange appointments outside our office within Leipzig, for example at your home, in hospital or in a care home. Outside Leipzig, appointments outside the office are only possible in particularly justified exceptional cases.

For external appointments, an additional fee of €50 per half hour or part thereof is charged in accordance with the law. A special rule applies to wills and powers of attorney: in these cases, the fee is a flat rate of €50, regardless of the duration of the appointment.

When certifying a signature, the notary simply checks the identity of the person signing the document using photo ID. However, the notary does not check the content of the document unless expressly requested to do so. This means that no legal advice is provided. The content of the document does not have to be read aloud, which is why appointments for signature certification are usually short.

In the case of a certified copy, the notary certifies that the copy of a document (= duplicate) corresponds to the original presented.

Certification, on the other hand, covers the entire content of the document. It involves comprehensive legal advice from the notary. The text of the document must be read aloud in its entirety (see above for the significance of reading aloud).

In most cases, a consultation with a notary is free of charge. If the consultation results in a draft or notarisation, the consultation is covered by the draft or notarisation fee. This applies regardless of how time-consuming the consultation and drafting of the document text were. There is a standard fee for the draft or notarisation, which is usually determined by the value of the matter (see above). The consultation fees are therefore included in the draft or notarisation fee, i.e. they are ‘all-inclusive’. Consulting fees are only incurred for isolated consultations, i.e. if the notary does not prepare a draft and does not perform notarisation. The amount of the consulting fee then depends on the effort and complexity involved, as well as on the assets of the parties involved.
Advisory fees are only incurred for isolated advice, i.e. if the notary does not prepare a draft and does not carry out notarization. The amount of the consultation fee then depends on the effort and complexity as well as the assets of the parties involved.