What legal services does a notary provide?

The law requires a notarial instrument for a number of agreements and legal transactions. The most important are:

1. Conveying real property in the Netherlands;
2. Creating or cancelling mortgages;
3. Incorporating public or private limited liability companies (NVs and BVs) or altering their articles of association;
4. Establishing foundations or associations (including cooperatives) or altering their constitution;
5. Drawing up, altering and executing wills;
6. Drawing up or altering marriage contracts (i.e. usually ante-nuptial settlements) and registered domestic partnership agreements;
7. Transferring registered shares;
8. Legalising signatures;
9. Providing for gifts and donations in a notarial instrument.

For practical reasons a notary often also performs other types of legal transaction and drafts other types of agreement, for example partnership agreements (commercial, civil and limited partnerships), agreements between cohabitees and provisions to protect private limited liability companies from third parties.