A notary is a public official of the State who has the objective of verifying specific facts previously agreed between people. They are legal professionals who are in charge of managing through public deed any registration that is made in the different registries throughout the Spanish State.
The notary profession has many job opportunities, something that attracts many law graduates. In the following article we show you How can you get to work as a notary in Spain? and what are the requirements for it.
Notary functions
There are several functions that a notary professional can perform:
- The main function of the notary is to ensure that any contract or business conforms to the law and offers legal certainty.
- The notary must be present and sign in any mortgage-type operation. The same happens when canceling a certain mortgage or subrogation of it.
- In the case of inheritances and wills, the signature of the notary is essential for them to be carried out. If the person or persons in question want to renounce an inheritance, the notary must attest at all times to said actions.
- When setting up various companies, the notary must attest to it. In the event that there are changes in the company or in the company, the notary must record this.
- The sale of certain goods must be collected in a document in which the parties, the form of payment and the terms of the same appear. For it to be valid, the notary must sign said document.
- The notary also has the power to verify and authenticate various documents. Without the notary's signature such documents are invalid.
- Another function is to grant certain power to people who act on its behalf in relation with certain administrative and legal acts. This is what happens with attorneys.
- It also has the power to marry two people or to divorce them if there is mutual agreement by both parties.
Basic requirements to be a notary
There are three requirements that must be met in order to practice as a notary:
- Have Spanish nationality or belong to a member of the European Union.
- Have a law degree or have obtained a Doctorate in such career or degree.
- Pass the free oppositions related to the position of notary convened by the Ministry of Justice.
How are the oppositions to be a notary
The oppositions for notary public consist of four parts related to various topics related with Civil Law, Commercial Law, Fiscal Law or Procedural Law. The oppositions include an oral part and a written part and consist of the following exercises:
- In the first you have to answer orally to a series of topics Civil and Tax Law within a maximum period of one hour.
- The second exercise must also be done orally. You have to answer questions related to Civil, Commercial or Mortgage Law. As with the first exercise, the maximum time will be one hour.
- The third exercise is written and consists of writing an opinion on a subject related to Civil, Commercial or Notarial Law. In this case the exercise lasts a maximum of 6 hours.
- The fourth exercise lasts a maximum of 6 hours and It is divided into two parts:
- In the first part, the aspiring notary must draw up a notarial document and explain it in court.
- In the second part, the applicant must solve a financial and accounting assumption.
In short, if you have just graduated in Law and want to aspire to something else, do not hesitate to study to become a notary. There are many job opportunities that it offers without forgetting the good remuneration that it has. It is true that oppositions are really complicated and difficult but with perseverance and tenacity they can be approved. In relation to the salary, it must be said that it will depend to a great extent on the notary's office in which the work is carried out and on the number of documents that they manage to sign per year. Anyway, The average salary of a notary is usually around 150.000 euros per year.