Notary fees
Obligation to charge fees
Pursuant to Section 17 (1) sentence 1 of the Federal Notarial Code, notaries are obliged to charge the fees and expenses prescribed by law in the Court and Notarial Costs Act (GNotKG) for their work - no more and no less. Fee agreements of any kind are not permitted. Regular business audits by the President of the Regional Court or the notary's office also cover the proper collection of fees and enforcement of costs, if necessary.
Advice included
The notarial costs law has another advantage for you as a citizen: our advice, including the drafting work, is included in the notarization fee, regardless of the difficulty, the effort or the number of meetings.
Social fee system
The GNotKG fee system is carefully balanced. It also means that we notaries carry out many official activities without charging a fee that covers the costs. This ensures that anyone can take advantage of notarial advice and contract drafting, regardless of their assets or the value of the transaction. The notarial costs law establishes a particularly social value fee system that allows everyone access to notarial services.
Inexpensive
A Harvard study conducted in 2007 on the cost structure, quality and efficiency of typical real estate transactions in Germany, France, England, Sweden, Estonia and the United States revealed that we notaries in Germany not only guarantee a high level of legal certainty, but are also very inexpensive compared to other countries: We notaries in Germany not only guarantee a high degree of legal certainty, but are also very inexpensive in international comparison.
Calculation of notary fees
Value fees
The amount of the notary's fees is based solely on the significance and value of the transaction and not on the notary's workload. The standardized German Court and Notary Fees Act (GNotKG) provides for a specific fee rate for each official activity of the notary. Based on the respective fee rate, the specific fee is calculated according to the fee scale depending on the value of the transaction. The notarization fee includes the comprehensive consultation by the notary, the preparation of the draft and the notarization in the narrower sense.
Goodwill
The GNotKG stipulates how the business value is to be determined for the calculation of fees. In the case of a purchase agreement, for example, this is usually the purchase price, in the case of general powers of attorney the gross assets of the principal and in the case of wills the net assets of the testator, whereby debts are only deductible up to a maximum of half of the assets.
Business audit
The regular business audits by the President of the Regional Court or the auditing department of the notary's office also cover the proper assessment of costs. In the event of irregularities, the notary is obliged to demand or refund fees. False declarations of value by the parties involved are punishable by law.
Fee rate
The full fee (1.0) must be charged for unilateral declarations, while double the fee (2.0) is charged for contracts and resolutions. The fee rate for the notary's support and execution activities is often 0.5. However, if the notary's execution activities are limited, for example, to obtaining a certificate of pre-emption rights in accordance with Section 28 (1) of the Building Code, the fee is a maximum of €50.
Fee calculator
The amount of the notary fees can be determined with the help of a fee calculator created by the Federal Chamber of Notaries based on the Microsoft Excel™ program. The fee calculator can also be downloaded from this website. We assume no liability for the accuracy of the calculation.