For more information about the notarial function, you can visit the website of the General Council of Notaries, where you will find a search engine for notaries and protocols, or download the information brochure of the 100 questions.
The main advantage is the one that provides preventive legal certainty: The notary makes sure, before the signature, among others, of the identity and capacity of the parties, that they have enough powers, of the ownership of the real state and if there’s any mortgage or debts. In other words, the notary guarantees that the contract that will be signed suits the current legislation.
The legal certainty that the notary provides is embodied in the public deed, whose effects are stronger than the ones the law recognises to the private document, which is based in Law, Administration, Judges and Courts.
The notaries can advise and be useful in almost all of your life’s aspects. For instance, in the specific field of the family, appoint someone to be the guardian or tutor of your children, set up protection for the disabled, make donations or marriage contracts. In the field of the succesions, to grant wills, heir declarations, previous instructions document and inheritances. In your bussiness, they can help you to start a company, sell or buy stocks and shares or appoint administrator or trustees. In your relation with the Bank, we can include creating and cancelling mortages, or personal credits or loand. In addition to these, other common documents are notarial powers, sellings, declaration of houses, condos and notarial certificates of all kind. You can find more detailed information here.
The one who requests notarial acting can choose with almost completely freedom whoever of the nearly three thousand notaries that are around Spain, because there are very few documents that have territorial competence recognised. If you are more than one, you can agree which notary, but if you don’t, the right to choose is recognised to the party that will pay the main part of the fees. You have available a notary and protocol finder here: www.notariado.org.
Of course, you can. Previous advice to any deed is free and impartital. The notary will solve your doubts and will recommend you the possible solutions you have. To this end, you just have to ask for an appointment and briefly expose the object of you question, so we can tell you which documents you should bring with you to the meeting. In addition to this, when you are signing, it is convenient than you ask whatever you consider important or anything that’s not completely clear.
It is possible to get an approximate estimation of the notarial fee, taxes and other expenses, but always having in mind that not all of the elements than may be related to this estimation can be known previously to the signature.
Apart from asking in your nearest notary, you can get more information about the notarial duty and his services at www.notariado.org. Here you will find, among other interesting information, questions asked by the citizens to the notaries, and brochures with frequently asked questions.
The managing of the actions following the deed is a complementary and different work to the notarial job, that the notary can do as an independent professional. Because of this, you can trust in the notary to manafe the payment of the taxes, the registration of the deed and the payment of the Registrar’s fee, or else you can do it yourself or hire another person. Do not hesitate in asking the terms of the management, in those notaries that offer it.
The cost of the document is calculated according to the notarial fee, that were passed by the Government on 1989, and they depend on the value of the real state and other circumstances, as the lenght of the deed or the copies that are requested. The notarial fee is equal for every Notary, that’s why every one of them charges the same for the same service. Each notary has at your disposal a full copy of the fee, to solve any doubt or question. You can check it here.
The notary must give you a detailed invoice of his services. In addition to this, once the formalities of the deed, if so, are over, he will inform you of the cost of the other expenses that may result of the contract, like tax payment, Registrar’s fee or management.
Notary’s fees are just a part of what you pay in a Notary, because usually there will be other expenses and tasks that the Notary does on behalf of the client, like the tax payment, the presentation in the Real State or Commercial Registry, and the payment of other professionals, like managers or Registrar.
You have to be provided of an original (al) current document that identifies you, that may be your personal ID or passport (Spanish or from whichever country of the European Union). If you are non-resident, you will have to bring your original and current foreigner Identification Number (N.I.E.). If you are using a power or letter of attorney, you will have to bring the authorised copy of the deed, and if you act on behalf of a Company, the authorised copy of the constitution and the appointment as administrator. Furthermore, each document itself (selling, will, inheritante, and so on) has his own requirements, that you can check at your Notary.