What is the role of notaries?

Setting up a GmbH is an important decision that comes with rights and obligations. For example, the relationship between the shareholders has to be regulated.

For example:

• Who may decide what, and by what majority?
• How are profits distributed?
• Who represents the company, and to what extent?

Questions like these are regulated in the articles of association of a GmbH, which must be executed as a notarial deed. We explain what the notary’s role is.

What is a notarial deed?

A notarial deed (Notariatsakt) is a contract that must be read out by a notary in order to take effect. On the one hand, this offers protection against rushing into contracts with far-reaching consequences. Much more important, however, are the notary’s roles in informing the parties and giving legal advice.

The notary’s role in a notarial deed

Notaries must practise their profession impartially and objectively. In a notarial deed, notaries ensure that all contracting parties know their rights and obligations under the contract. For a notarial deed setting up a GmbH, for example, the notary reads out the entire contract. It is the notary’s job to explain to the contracting parties in plain language what the contract regulates, because complicated legal texts are not always easy to understand. Where the contracting parties have different levels of experience, this helps to balance out information asymmetries. One of the notary’s roles in a notarial deed is therefore to ensure fair and balanced contractual provisions. In this way, the notarial deed protects the contracting parties when concluding important contracts.

Online notarial deeds

On notarity, notarial deeds can also be executed online. The contracting parties meet the notary directly on app.notarity.com in a video conference. This makes online notarial deeds user-friendly, flexible and 100% digital. If you have any questions about online notarial deeds, please feel free to contact us.