Advantages of public deeds

As is well known, the Notary in all public deeds attests. To attest means that a public deed is true and guarantees that the signatories can sign the deed, that they sign it voluntarily and that it complies with the law.

Almost all documents signed in the notaries of Barcelona and Spain are public deeds, such as wills, inheritances, declarations of heirs, sales and mortgages. Commercial transactions are also public deeds, such as the incorporation of companies (public deed of company incorporation), capital increase or changes of company registered office.

Public deeds have procedural advantages over private documents as they are evidence in court that certifies the true content of a document.

Furthermore, public deeds have executive effectiveness in court. This is an important advantage, as judicial proceedings usually have two phases: a declaratory phase and an executive phase. In the declaratory phase, which is often the one that takes the longest to resolve in the courts, the right to something must be proven; whereas in the executive phase, the aim is only to enforce and execute a right.

For example, if someone owes money to another, in the declaratory phase of a trial it must be proven that the debt exists and the amount, and the person who owes the money can oppose with the evidence they have. Afterwards, in the executive phase, the Judge could order the seizure of an account of the person who owes money.

The advantage of the public deed is that one can go directly to the judicial enforcement phase and does not have to go through the declaratory phase, which is usually slower. Therefore, in the event of a trial, a deed reduces time and costs.

The notarised public deed allows the definitive acquisition of a right, which is known in Law as a traditory title. Thus, for example, in a property sale the buyer acquires ownership of the property upon signing the deed.

The public deed in the case that proves ownership of a right allows it to be sold. This is called a traffic title and occurs, for example, in sales in favour of the buyer who in the future will be able to use the deed of sale to sell to another person.

For a document to access these Registers, a public deed is normally required. In the case of the Property Register, this occurs with deeds of sale or inheritance deeds. For its part, in the Mercantile Register a deed is also almost always necessary, such as in company incorporations, changes of administrator, capital increases, and all amendments to the articles of association.

For a document to access these Registers, a public deed is normally required. In the case of the Property Register, this occurs with deeds of sale or inheritance deeds. For its part, in the Mercantile Register a deed is also almost always necessary, such as in company incorporations, changes of administrator, capital increases, and all amendments to the articles of association.

Therefore, to ensure that a deed is well drafted it is important to use the right to choose a Notary whenever one can. We will briefly analyse when a person can choose a Notary in 3 common cases that we encounter in our notary office in Barcelona Diagonal:

For the deed of sale the buyer always has the right to choose the Notary. It is especially important that the buyer chooses the Notary, particularly if the sale is accompanied by a mortgage, because this ensures that the Notary looks after the interests of the buyer, who is the one at greater risk. The buyer must choose the Notary in the sale because they will pay the full price and it is essential that there are no charges or problems with the property they are buying. Remember that we are a notary office specialised in sales in Barcelona and we can assist you with this type of procedure thanks to our Real estate and contractual notarial services.

In mortgages, you have to choose a Notary because you are contracting with a banking entity that has more legal advice than those receiving the loan. We offer different notarial mortgage services and the mortgage deed is a very common procedure at the notary’s office.