The notary
Often, people who enter into financial obligations may not appreciate the scope of their commitments. It is then time to call in an expert: the notary or deputy (civil law) notary. He provides advice and arranges for his client’s affairs to be properly regulated in law.
Notarial acts are documents in which agreements and declarations are legally recorded. It is compulsory for some types of agreement to be included in a notarial act. Only then are they valid.
Notaries and deputy (civil law) notaries deal with matters of private law (also referred to as civil law). Private law involves legal relations between persons, i.e. natural persons (individuals) and legal persons. Private law as dealt with by notaries and deputy (civil law) notaries can also be divided into the following areas.
Anyone wishing to be appointed to the office of notary must fulfil the requirements laid down by law.
All notaries and deputy (civil law) notaries have obtained a degree in notarial law from a Dutch university. However, notaries have been appointed to their office and thus have the power to sign notarial acts and to own their own office. An assigned notary is entitled to sign notarial acts, but he is not an entrepreneur.
About the term notary
It must be underlined that Dutch notaries are civil law notaries, meaning that they are fully qualified legal professionals and thus entirely distinct from the profession of notary public in the United States and other common law countries. For ease of reading and in keeping with the practice in EU legislation, however, this translation of the website simply uses the term notary.