Notary Services, Apostilles and Legalisation
A country-wide network of notaries
We integrate full-range notarial services through an affiliate notary office in Sofia as well as a network of established notary contacts throughout Bulgaria. (In most transactions involving immovable property under Bulgarian law, a notary at the location of the property is obligatory).
Scope of services
We draft and finalise all types of notarial deeds - eg, for the transfer of real estate through sale and purchase contracts, through gifts, by inheritance etc.
Apostilles
If a document is required to be presented in Bulgaria and is signed outside Bulgaria,
the document's signature would need to be (a) certified; and (b) apostilled (a small
number of countries (not including any in Western Europe) benefit from a simpler yet procedure).
Apostilled documents are immediately recognised in all other Apostille Convention
states simply for having a special stamp (apostille) attached and can be used
(subject to certified translation) where notarised documents are normally required.
In property transactions, apostilles are needed on Powers of Attorney and several of
the documents in the procedure for company registration.
Our charge for apostillisation is £ 90/€ 135 (50% more for an express, next-day service)
and we courier the apostilled document directly to the required recipient.
Drafting of Notarial Deeds
Using a lawyer rather than the notary to prepare a notarial deed is a wise step for most private property buyers. It commonly reduces legal costs by 0.5% as lawyers charge more efficiently for this service.
Together with our thorough experience investigating property title and conducting Bulgarian legal due diligence, this creates a one-stop shop - we deal with both the formalities and the substantive protection of investors' interests. Given that Bulgaria still has a decentralised system for recording title, it helps to smoothe the process that we maintain regular relations with the competent governmental authorities.
Document Certification
We certify documents from other jurisdictions for use in Bulgaria and vice versa - as true copies; for the authenticity of signatures on them; for use in legal proceedings and as witness statements; as sworn statements and affidavits, etc. We prepare/help execute Powers of Attorney (PoAs).
Service of process
We offer procedural representation in Bulgaria to clients involved in international legal disputes in administrative, civil and penal matters.