Notarization of documents or signatures

Documents (copies, duplicates, negatives, electronic documents and printouts of electronic documents) as well as signatures and hand signs can be notarized. A distinction must first be made between official and public certification.

Official certification is governed by the State Administrative Procedure Act in conjunction with the Federal Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) and only applies to documents whose original has been issued by an authority or whose copy is required for submission to an authority (unless the issue of certified copies from official registers and archives is reserved exclusively for other authorities). A signature or hand mark can also be officially certified if the signed document is required for submission to an authority or other body to which it must be submitted under a legal provision.

The legal basis for public certification of signatures is the German Civil Code. Public notarization of a signature is only permitted in cases that are prescribed by law.

Official certifications:

Official certifications can be carried out by local mayors, heads of local authorities, municipal administrations, administrations of municipalities not belonging to an association, independent and large towns belonging to a district, district administrations, the structural and approval directorates, the supervisory and service directorate, the directors and presidents of the courts, the public prosecutor's offices and general public prosecutor's offices, the prisons, the highest state authorities, the statutory health insurance funds with direct state funding as well as all other authorities within the scope of their subject matter jurisdiction.

Public notarizations of signatures:

Public certifications of signatures in accordance with the German Civil Code can be carried out by notaries, local mayors, heads of local authorities, municipal administrations, administrations of independent municipalities, independent and large towns and district administrations.

The document to be notarized and the original are required.

When notarizing signatures or hand signs, proof of identity (e.g. identity card or passport) and the document on which the signature or hand sign is to be notarized must be brought along.

Notarizations are generally subject to a fee. The competent authority will provide information on the amount of the fee.

Official notarization is not sufficient,

• if public notarization or public certification (by notaries, courts or certain authorities, e.g. the youth welfare office) is required, or
• if a specific authority has exclusive responsibility (e.g. civil status documents only from the registry office, extracts from the land register only from the surveying and land registry authorities).