If you live or happen to be outside Romania, some notarial documents can be obtained at Romania's
diplomatic missions and consular offices. Find out what a consulate can
do, what it cannot, and how a document drawn up abroad is used in Romania, and how Romanian
notarial documents travel abroad.
Drafting of documents, authentications, signature certifications, certified copies, translations, certified dates, deposits and duplicates, performed by Romania's diplomatic missions and consular offices.
What you can obtain at the consulate
The documents Romanians abroad ask for most often are powers of attorney – for the sale or purchase of a property, for the settlement of an inheritance, for representation before the authorities at home –, authenticated declarations (for instance the declaration accepting or renouncing an inheritance), certification of a signature on a document, certified copies and translations. All of these fall within the competence of the consulate.
Contracts concerning immovable property, matrimonial agreements, divorce and the settlement of an inheritance cannot be performed at the consulate. See what you can do in those situations in the section What a consulate cannot do →
Who may apply
Consular notarial documents are performed at the request of Romanian citizens and Romanian legal persons. Foreign natural or legal persons may request them only if the documents are to produce legal effects in Romania, and only in so far as the law of the state of residence or bilateral agreements do not stand in the way (art. 18 para. (4) of Law no. 36/1995).
Where the documents are performed
Notarial documents are performed at the premises of the diplomatic mission or of the consular office. They may also be performed on board ships and aircraft flying the Romanian flag stationed within the consulate's area of activity, as well as at the home of the Romanian citizen or in another place, where this is provided for in the international conventions to which Romania and the state of residence are parties, or where local law does not stand in the way (art. 18 para. (5) of Law no. 36/1995).
The document you receive
A document authenticated at the consulate follows the regime of an authentic notarial document (art. 90 para. (1) of Law no. 36/1995). Duplicates of documents drawn up by a consulate are issued by the consulate that drew them up (art. 18 para. (2) letter i) of Law no. 36/1995).
For documents that are to be used in Romania, no further recognition formality is required: the apostille and legalisation concern the documents of foreign authorities, not those of Romanian authorities abroad.
Sales and the other documents transferring or creating rights over immovable property, matrimonial agreements, divorce and inheritance are concluded only in Romania, before a public notary.
The notarial competence of diplomatic missions and consular offices is limited by law. Four categories of document are concluded only in Romania, before a public notary: legal acts between living persons that create or transfer ownership, documents concerning the matrimonial regime, divorce, and the settlement of an inheritance. For each of them, however, the law offers a route by which you can resolve matters without travelling to Romania, or by limiting the travel to a single trip.
Sales and the other documents concerning immovable property
What you can do: have a special power of attorney authenticated at the consulate, by which you authorise a person you trust to conclude the document on your behalf. The power of attorney must describe the document and the property precisely; a general power of attorney is not sufficient. See the section A power of attorney given abroad →
The matrimonial agreement
Choosing, changing or winding up the matrimonial regime is done by an agreement authenticated by a public notary, on pain of absolute nullity. Consent may be given in person or through a representative holding an authentic, special power of attorney with predetermined content (art. 330 para. (1) of the Civil Code). That power of attorney, with the draft agreement attached, may be authenticated at the consulate.
Divorce
Divorce by agreement of the spouses falls within the competence of the public notary in the district of the court where the marriage was concluded or where the spouses' last common home is situated (art. 15 letter e) of Law no. 36/1995). The application may also be filed through a representative holding an authentic power of attorney (art. 376 para. (2) of the Civil Code), but on the expiry of the 30-day period for reflection the spouses must appear in person before the public notary to confirm that they persist in the divorce (art. 376 para. (3) of the Civil Code; art. 269 of the Regulation implementing Law no. 36/1995).
Filing the application through a representative allows you to make a single trip to Romania, for the final appointment. See the page Notarial divorce →
Inheritance
The succession procedure is carried out only by a public notary in Romania. At the consulate, however, you can give the authenticated declaration accepting or renouncing the inheritance (art. 1120 para. (2) of the Civil Code) and the power of attorney by which you authorise someone to represent you in the succession procedure.
How to authorise someone in Romania to conclude the document on your behalf, either at the consulate or before a foreign notary?
A power of attorney is the instrument through which most of the documents that cannot be concluded at a consulate are nevertheless concluded without your being in Romania. You authorise a person you trust – a relative, a friend, someone close to you – to sign on your behalf before the public notary in Romania. A mandate given for the conclusion of a document subject to a particular form must itself observe that form (art. 2013 para. (2) of the Civil Code).
What the power of attorney must contain
For certain types of document the power of attorney must be special: it must state the document that is to be concluded, the property it concerns and the limits within which the representative may act. A general power of attorney, authorising someone to “represent you in all matters”, is not sufficient for the sale of a property, for instance.
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It is worth asking the Romanian public notary before whom the document will be concluded for a draft of the power of attorney, or for the list of elements it has to contain.
If it sets no term, the mandate ends 3 years after the date on which it was concluded (art. 2015 of the Civil Code).
How to obtain the power of attorney
01
At our country's diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad
Authenticating a power of attorney falls within the competence of diplomatic missions and consular offices (art. 18 para. (2) letter b) of Law no. 36/1995). The power of attorney is drawn up in Romanian and can be used directly before the public notary in Romania, without an apostille, legalisation or translation.
02
Before a notary in the state where you are
A power of attorney authenticated by a foreign notary may be used in Romania if it meets the conditions of form and substance required for the procedure in question, and only once the recognition formalities have been completed: an apostille, if the state is a party to the Hague Convention, or legalisation by Romania's diplomatic mission or consular office in that state or by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (art. 139 para. (2) of Law no. 36/1995), unless a bilateral treaty waives that formality. The power of attorney is then translated in Romania by an authorised interpreter and translator, whose signature is certified by the public notary (art. 318–320 of the Regulation). This route is usually longer and more expensive than the first.
Talk to the notary in Romania who will carry out the procedure, to find out whether notaries in the country where you are can draw up the power of attorney in the form needed to complete it, or whether you have to turn to the consular mission.
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Sending the power of attorney to Romania
The representative presents the original power of attorney to the public notary, together with the certified translation where applicable. The notary checks in the National Notarial Register of Powers of Attorney and Revocations that the power of attorney has not been revoked.
Revoking the power of attorney
You can revoke the power of attorney at any time, by a declaration of revocation. For the revocation to take effect as against the notary who would conclude the document, it must be entered in the National Notarial Register of Powers of Attorney and Revocations.
Inheritance when the deceased lived abroad
Which public notary has competence, and what further documents are needed, when the deceased had their last domicile outside Romania?
When a person dies whose last domicile was outside Romania, the usual rule – that the inheritance is settled by the notary in the district of the last domicile – can no longer be applied. The law lays down an order of rules by which the competent public notary is determined (art. 103 para. (4)–(6) of Law no. 36/1995).
Which public notary has competence
01
If there is immovable property in Romania that belonged to the deceased
Competence lies with the first public notary seised in the district where the property is situated. If there are properties in several districts, the heirs may choose any one of them.
02
If there is no immovable property, but there are movable assets
Competence lies with the first public notary seised in the district where the movable assets are situated, for instance a bank account, a car, shares.
03
If there is no asset at all in Romania
Competence lies with any public notary in the country, the first one seised.
The same rules apply where the last domicile is unknown, or where the death certificate indicates only the state in which the deceased lived (art. 103 para. (6) and (7) of Law no. 36/1995; art. 954 para. (3) of the Civil Code).
The notary seised checks in the Chamber's Register of Succession Procedures and in the national registers that the procedure has not already been opened before another notary (art. 103 para. (3)).
The law applicable to the inheritance
For successions opened after 17 August 2015, Regulation (EU) no. 650/2012 applies in relations with the other Member States of the European Union: the inheritance is governed, as a whole, by the law of the state in which the deceased had their habitual residence at the date of death, unless they chose the law of their nationality by will.
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Given how complex succession procedures with a foreign element are, it is advisable to turn to a public notary for legal advice, which will cover the applicable law, the documents needed, the time in which such a file can be settled, and the fees involved. Search for a notarial office →
Romania's diplomatic missions and consular offices
Where to find the competent consulate, how to book an appointment and what to prepare?
Consular notarial documents are performed by Romania's diplomatic missions and consular offices in the state where you are. The consular network is organised and run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; contact details, opening hours and access arrangements may change, which is why this page points to the official source.
Where to find the competent consulate
The up-to-date list of diplomatic missions and consular offices, with addresses, consular districts and contact details, is published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Romanian Missions ↗
Several consular offices may operate in one state, each with its own district; check which of them serves the region where you live.
Booking an appointment
Notarial documents are as a rule performed by prior appointment, through the online booking platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Consular Services ↗
When booking, state the type of document you need; some consulates ask for the information required for drafting to be sent in advance. If you do not have all of it, consult a public notary in Romania. That way you avoid having to travel more than once for the same document.
The apostille and legalisation
A consulate performs notarial documents, but it cannot affix the apostille or legalisation to documents drawn up by public notaries in Romania. To use a document drawn up in Romania abroad, turn to the Chamber of Public Notaries. See Apostille → and Legalisation →
