Notarial legal advice
The public notary's guidance, orally or in writing, on a legal question: which document suits you, which papers to prepare and what effects the document will have, before you commit to a procedure.
You can come to a notary with a question first. The law defines notarial activity through two components, not one: notarial documents and notarial legal advice. Advice is therefore a service in its own right, which you can ask for before deciding which document to conclude, or even without concluding any document at all.
“Notarial activity is carried out by public notaries through notarial documents and notarial legal advice, under the conditions of this law.”
What notarial legal advice is
It is the guidance the public notary gives you, in writing or orally, on a legal question within their field of competence: which document best suits your situation, which conditions must be met, which documents are needed and what effects the document will produce once concluded. The public notary may give advice both on the content of the documents they perform and other legal advice on notarial matters, and, at the parties' request, may take part, as a specialist appointed by them, in preparing and drawing up legal documents of a notarial nature (Article 13 of the law).
Advice is not the same as the explanations the notary gives you anyway when you conclude a document. Those are part of the procedure for the document: the notary is required to clarify the legal relationships between the parties, to check that the purpose pursued complies with the law and to give the necessary guidance on the legal effects of the document (Article 80(1) of the law). Notarial legal advice is the step before, in which you receive this guidance without yet being committed to a procedure.
How it helps you
Situations in which advice saves you from taking the wrong path are common. A few examples:
- You do not know which document is right: a general or a special power of attorney, a will or a maintenance contract, a sale or a gift with protective clauses.
- You want to find out in advance which documents you need to gather and from whom (tax clearance certificate, land register extract, energy performance certificate, certificate from the owners' association, utility bills or the like), so that you do not discover what is missing only at signing.
- You want to understand the effects of a document before committing to it: what happens to the asset after a gift, what obligations remain after a divorce, how assets are divided in a succession with several heirs.
- You already have a document drafted by yourself or by someone else and want to know whether it can be authenticated as it stands or what needs to change.
- You are a legal entity or an individual with recurring needs and want ongoing notarial guidance, not just one-off guidance.
How it is given
Notarial legal advice is given in writing or orally, to individuals or legal entities, on request or under a fixed-term contract (Article 79(2) of the law). You can therefore choose between one-off advice, a single question with a single answer, and an advisory relationship over a period set by contract, an arrangement suited to businesses, associations or people who have several notarial transactions to handle over a period of time.
Advice is given without the formalities of a notarial document. The public notary does not draw up a notarial ruling for advice (Article 84 of the law) and is not required to establish the identity, domicile and capacity of the parties as for notarial documents (Article 78(5) of the law). What you receive is the notary's answer, orally during the meeting, or in writing where you have asked for it in writing.
Each piece of advice is recorded in the register of notarial legal advice, which the notarial office is required to keep (Article 102(1)(h) of the Regulations implementing the law). The register records the date, the name of the applicant, the subject of the advice, its form, oral or written, and the fee collected.
Good to know: advice is covered by professional secrecy. The public notary and the staff of the notarial office are required to keep professional secrecy about the documents and facts they learn of in the course of their work, even after leaving office (Article 70 of the law). What you discuss with the notary stays between you and the notarial office.
What notarial legal advice is not
Advice does not take the place of a document. If, after the guidance you receive, you decide to conclude the document, the appropriate notarial procedure follows (authentication, certification, succession proceedings), with its formalities and checks. Nor is advice a judgment, and it does not settle a dispute: the public notary acts in non-contentious matters and cannot take the place of the court.
Advice is requested from a public notary, not from the Chamber of Public Notaries or the Union. The Chambers and the Union may not give advice, issue opinions or give instructions on how a particular document or notarial procedure within the competence of the public notary who drew it up is to be handled, except where requested by public institutions (Article 96(10) of the Regulations).
What it costs
The fee for legal advice on notarial matters is set freely, by agreement between you and the public notary, depending on the complexity of the question and the time spent. Advice is one of the notarial services for which the law sets no minimum fee (Article 9(1) point 5 of the Rules on minimum fee scales, Official Gazette no. 70/2024).
Good to know: if, on the basis of the advice, you then conclude the notarial document at the same office, the fee paid for the advice is deducted from the final fee for the document (Article 11(1) of the Rules). And the explanations the notary gives you as part of the procedure for the document are included in the fee for the document; they are not paid for separately (Article 7(1)(a) and (i) of the Rules). Advice remains a separate cost only when it is not followed by a document at that notarial office, or when that document has a different subject from the advice.
For full details and worked examples, see the Fees and charges section →
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