The legal figure of the notary exists since it was regulated in the Notary Law in 1862, currently being essential to formalize all kinds of procedures in which your signature is necessary. The word notary It comes from the Latin “notare” which means “to write” or “to designate”. Currently the Notary services They have a key role in countless acts and events between people. And the notary is in charge of verifying, legitimizing and giving public faith to all these acts.

What is a notary?

The notary is a public official of the State in public service. He is obliged to provide legal certainty to his clients and is in charge of verifying specific facts previously agreed between people. In addition to legitimizing and giving public faith to all this. He comes from the field of Law, so he can practice in any modality for which he is authorized. He is responsible for preventing any type of fraud and is an impartial witness when it comes to certifying the authenticity of any document. The notary depends on the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries (DGRN) that belongs to the Ministry of Justice.

Thus, the notary has a double characteristic:

  • He is part of the civil service
  • In addition to being a legal professional

These 2 qualities guarantee your independence and authorize you to exercise public faith. This notarial public faith has a double content:

  • Regarding the facts: affects the accuracy of what you see, hear or perceive
  • Regarding the Law: It guarantees the authenticity and strength of the declarations of will of the parties and everything written in accordance with the laws.

Users have the power to choose the notary. In Spain we have more than 3000 notaries and their radius of action ranges from the big city to the most remote places. There is also a guide to notaries, which anyone can go to if they need to verify its authenticity.

Notary functions

A notary has countless functions. Perhaps the best known are those of intervening in the signing of a mortgage or formalizing a will. However, the figure of the notary is present in many other situations, such as:

  • Preparation and processing of public deeds.
  • Authentications (including copies or signatures).
  • Faith of life (written testimony of the survival of a person).
  • Correction of errors in public deeds.
  • Preservation and storage of notarial files.
  • Drafting of reference notes (when they affect other deeds)
  • Legal advisor to the parties (art. 147 of the Notary Regulations)
  • Preparation of public deeds for the cancellation of mortgages.
  • Store and later open closed wills.
  • Recognition of private documents, leaving a record of the content of the document and the manifestation of the interested person.

Notary interventions

A notary can be present in countless events, ensuring the legal and juridical validity before going to any lawsuit.

Among the interventions of a notary we highlight the following:

  • Making a will, declaration of heirs, sending files to the registry of last wills, information to the beneficiaries of inheritances or unknown legacies and participation in the payment of inheritance taxes.
  • Leases and purchases.
  • Communications to the town hall of new farms created or their transmission.
  • Constitution of usufructs and rents.
  • Mortgage firm.
  • Formation of the real estate cadastre of farms.
  • Dissolution of a conjugal partnership, recognition or emancipation of a child, divorces or weddings, etc.

History of the notary in Spain

The origins of the figure of the notary in Spain date back to Roman times, under the Roman Empire, when the role of the "notarius" was established. This individual was responsible for taking notes or writing down speeches and transactions in shorthand, later evolving into the figure of the notary in the Middle Ages, whose function was to write and attest to legal documents and acts.

With the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, the concept of notaries underwent a transformation and adaptation to new social and political structures, maintaining, however, the importance of written documents and the need for qualified people to prepare and prepare them. verify its authenticity.

The Christian reconquest and the subsequent consolidation of the Christian kingdoms on the peninsula gave rise to a revival of Roman law and the influence of canon law, which reaffirmed and expanded the role of the notary. During the Middle Ages, notaries acquired a recognized professional status, requiring specific training that was often given in universities, where Roman and canon law were studied.

In the 13th century, with the expansion of the royal bureaucracy and the development of the courts as centers of power, the demand for notaries grew exponentially. The Catholic Monarchs, in their effort to centralize power and create an efficient administration, regulated the notarial profession more strictly, establishing the requirements for the exercise of the profession and the organization of the notarial profession.

The notarial profession in Spain has continued to evolve to this day, maintaining its essential role in the certification of legal acts and public faith. The tradition of notary practice in Spain, therefore, is a reflection of its rich legal and administrative history, from its Roman and medieval origins to the modern system we know today.