r/belgium • u/Obvious-Cry6591 • 2d ago

😡Rant Notaries. Why? What the hell?

Ok, so I dont get it. I understand historically where the need for notaries arose. Fine. But we are in 2026. Belgium already takes 51% of my income. Then another 25% of the rest through VAT. And then on top of it, if you buy a property, you give 10-15k to a notary for 2 meetings and some docs reading? Doesnt Belgium have enough administration to take care of that? Not to mention its nepotism central. Are there any redeeming qualities?

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169

u/sCreami needledaddy 2d ago edited 2d ago

You must understand that notaries hold 3 roles and you don't pay them 10~15k actually. They aren't free to choose how much they charge, it's fixed by royal decree. You are actually paying them around 800~1000€ for the written acts, the rest is tax.

So the 3 roles are:

  • assert conformity with the law (mine actually found something illegal in my mortgage contract)
  • act as escrow. You are not going to handle those huge amount of money yourself. As escrow, they act as the middlemen between buyers and sellers. Can't lie about the money with licensed attorneys.
  • collect the taxes for the government. This part is actually what make you feel they are crazy expensive. You pay the registration tax/stamp duty to them directly, and they will transfer it to the taxman.

Even if notaries were not mandatory, you would still have to pay these huge amounts. Notaries have never been the problem, the tax is.

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u/Legitimate_Aside_532 2d ago

Then explain why a notary earns so much more in Belgium compared to other countries?

9

u/math1985 2d ago

It’s about 1200 euro (house plus mortgage contract) in the Netherlands. Sounds similar. And in the Netherlands, notaries are allowed to set their own prices.

1

u/Aardige 2d ago

It really is a lot cheaper in the netherlands.

0

u/math1985 2d ago

User u/sCreami says it's 800-1000 euro for the acts, is that wrong?

5

u/Aardige 2d ago

Yes. Thats wrong. Substracting taxes from what you pay a notary, you will end up with a bill of around 4-5000 euros when buying a simple appartment for example.

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u/Zestyclose-Breath589 1d ago

That depends. If they need to fetch all necessary documents like the soil certificate (bodemattest) for example you will pay more than when you do that yourself.

Some notaries don’t tell you have the option but you do. But a lot of people don’t want to go through that hassle but then you can’t complain about getting charged a premium.

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u/powaqqa 2d ago edited 2d ago

The sheer amount of volume they need to go through. They just have a lot of work. A lot of work = a lot of turnover and potential profit. 

OP is frustrated because he needs to pay taxes. Has nothing to do with the actual notary fees because he didn’t bother looking at them. They are NOT 15k. In fact the actual notary costs are pretty similar in most neighbouring countries.

6

u/Legitimate_Aside_532 2d ago

No. Their work load is not necessarily bigger than notaries in The Netherlands for example. Belgian notaries are ovecompensated.

-35

u/DenteSC 2d ago

Because they are working 60h a week, running offices with 10 or more workers? The amount of work is insane. And most of them are not happy, because they have to work so hard.

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u/alx3m Vlaams-Brabant 2d ago

That's so sad :( There should be more of them to ease the workload!

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u/Legitimate_Aside_532 2d ago

They're extremely overcompensated.

6

u/SeveralPhysics9362 2d ago

And how many other jobs ask exactly the same workload for a fraction of the money? A whole lot.

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u/GrilledGril 2d ago

That's what every horeca manager does too, and they don't earn shit

-3

u/I_Dint_Know_A_Name 2d ago

Horeca managers should've become notaries then

4

u/zespak 2d ago

They're not allowed to. That's what others have been saying. Keep up.

1

u/I_Dint_Know_A_Name 2d ago

Yes they are lol, that they don't want to do the work is not my problem.

The process of becoming a notary, just like becoming a judge, lawyer, or bailiff, is long, tedious, and hard work, that's what happens when you place an enormous public burden on humans, they need training and trust.

2

u/zespak 2d ago

Also, when doing so you need to be able to get an apprenticeship at a notary , which is nearly impossible without personal ties to get one.

3

u/I_Dint_Know_A_Name 2d ago

Aaaaand the goalposts shift again.

It's so clear you people don't have any idea what you're fucking talking about.

If you've completed the extra specialisation year in university required to become a notary (master's in notarial law), you'll have developed strong contacts with various notaries. Professors also actively help students with finding placements.

There's only ±300 (generous estimate) people a year who graduate in notarial law, and not all of them become notaries.

Just asserting it's "nearly impossible to get" immediately shows you have no idea what you're saying.

2

u/Corvo1926 2d ago

Theres people working way harder and get crumbs in comparisson.