How does one become a notary? How does one become a notarial employee? What is the difference between a notary and a lawyer? How is the notary's fee calculated? What is the difference between a full-time professional notary and a lawyer commissioned as a notary? Why are notarial instruments read out? What is the difference between an attestation and a recording? How does one become a notary? Access to the notary's profession is restricted by law to guarantee the notaries' high qualification and independence. The details differ between the full-time professional notary and the lawyer commissioned as a notary. In Hamburg there are only full-time professional notaries. The number of Hamburg notaries fluctuates - depending on the volume of documents in the City - traditionally between 75 and 85. Anyone wishing to become a notary here must first have successfully passed both state law examinations. In preparation of the responsible activity as a full-time professional notary the legislator stipulates a standard three-year period of service as a junior notary. Access to the service as a junior notary is likewise restricted and is strictly performance-linked. Of decisive importance are particularly the grades achieved in both state law examinations. Appointments are made by the judicial authority. During their service as junior notaries, the candidates are extensively prepared for their future work as notaries. After a certain induction period they are able to deputize for notaries (e.g. as replacement during vacation) and therefore to carry out recordings on their own. back to top How does one become a notarial employee? The work in a notary's office is an interesting and varied occupation. Depending on the individual's ability, employees are involved in the drafting and execution of documents. They are especially important for the communication with the clients. Our notarial employees have all undergone specialized training. Most of them are notarial administrative assistants who have successfully completed vocational training specifically tailored to work in the office of a full-time professional notary as part of the dual system of training at school and on-the-job. Many employees have acquired further qualifications, in some cases even as part of specialized studies at a university for applied sciences. back to top What is the difference between a notary and a lawyer? Lawyers work on the basis of a private contractual agreement. They are agents for special interests and therefore often appear in court in contentious disputes. There is no restriction on the number of people admitted to practice as a lawyer. Notaries, on the other hand, are holders of a public office. Hence, they act on the basis of sovereign powers conferred on them by the state. They are strictly bound to observe impartiality vis-à-vis the parties concerned; therefore, they are not allowed to take sides. Admission to practice as a notary is restricted. A combination that is difficult to understand at first sight exists with regard to lawyers who are commissioned as notaries. They are a historically related peculiarity to be found in some German federal states. They are full-time professional lawyers who perform notarial functions as a secondary occupation. Therefore, whenever they act as notaries they are likewise bound to observe impartiality. back to top How is the notary's fee calculated? Standard notarial charges are laid down in the Regulations on Ex Parte Costs for all notaries. They first depend on the statutory scale of charges, which, for example, amounts to 20/10 for the recording of contracts. The amount of the individual fee depends on the value of the subject matter. The details can be inferred from a fee scale annexed to the Regulations on Ex Parte Costs. Agreements fixing the amount of notarial charges are prohibited by law. As a result, notarial services are particularly reasonably priced - and often do not even cover the costs - if the value of the subject matter is moderate or low. For instance, the fee for the recording of an individual will with assets of EUR 50,000.00 amounts to EUR 132.00 (plus VAT). On the other hand, the fee will be higher if the sale of an exclusive property or of a major business interest is recorded. Here, the higher fee corresponds to the notary's increased economic responsibility. As a rule, the statutory fees are linked with the recording or attestation of declarations. For a recording the charge for the drafting and advisory services is covered by the recording fee. But please note that according to the statutory regulation charges will accrue also if you request a draft, but then - on whatever grounds - do not want a recording. For attestations a distinction is made according to whether we prepared the draft or only certified your signature. Special charges accrue for certain activities of the notary. This concerns, on the one hand, the collection charge for a notarial trust account (see trust activity). On the other, according to the statutory regulation extra charges arise for certain advisory care, the amount of which depends on the particular case. Of course, it is perfectly justified to inquire beforehand what our notarial services will cost. Please feel free to contact one of our employees about this at any time. back to top What is the difference between a full-time professional notary and a lawyer commissioned as a notary? For historical reasons there are different notariate constitutions in Germany. Internationally, full-time professional notaries are the norm. They are specialized in performing official notarial functions. Therefore, they are not allowed to work as lawyers additionally. In contrast to these stand lawyers who are commissioned as notaries. These are lawyers who act at the same time as notaries as a secondary occupation. For this reason, they perform far fewer official notarial functions than a full-time professional notary. Our partners are - like all Hamburg notaries - full-time professional notaries. The notariate as a primary occupation also exists in many other regions of Germany (e.g. in Bavaria or in the Rhineland). On the other hand, the neighbouring federal states (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) have lawyers who are commissioned as notaries. back to top Why are notarial instruments read out? The German Notarization Act stipulates declarations recorded by a notary must be read out to the parties concerned in the notary's presence. If merely an attestation of signatures is intended, the document does not need to be read out. If a document required to be read out is not read out in whole or in part, the recording will be invalid as a rule. Hence, reading out a document in full is one of the notary's key official duties. The parties should not regard the reading out of a document as an annoying duty as this serves to discuss the text as a whole and to clarify any questions. Often it only occurs to the parties during the reading out that they have overlooked a particular point. Of course, this is not a problem: the text concerned is amended during the recording. back to top What is the difference between an attestation and a recording? In an attestation only the signature of the party making the declaration is certified by the notary in principle. However, the notary is often additionally requested to draft the content of the declaration to be certified. The notarial recording results in more extensive responsibility of the notary. He is legally answerable for the content of the recorded declarations. This also applies to drafts which the notary has exceptionally not prepared himself. For this reason, the notary always carefully checks documents prior to the recording. Therefore, an attestation is sufficient under the law if it is mainly a question of ensuring the identity of the person affixing the signature. On the other hand, a notarial recording will be necessary if the parties are to be protected against wrong or rash decisions as regards the content of their declarations by involving the notary. back to top