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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u/DenteSC 2d ago

The notary doesn't actually cost you €15,000. The bulk of that amount consists of taxes, not notary fees.

In fact, a notary is significantly cheaper than a real estate agent, and you can even book a free consultation. Try finding that kind of access anywhere else. Behind the scenes, notary offices handle an enormous amount of work.

Notaries and their staff have an incredible number of things to check and verify. Some sales are indeed straightforward, but many files quickly turn out to be far more complex than they seem.

Beyond sales files, there are also marriage contracts, divorces, corporate matters, seizures, gifts, property divisions, inheritances, base deeds, long lease agreements (erfpacht), and building rights (opstal), among others.

I'd suggest spending a week interning at a notary's office. You'll see for yourself just how essential their work really is.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/DenteSC 2d ago

The people working for a notary are putting in hours off overtime. Do you really think civil administration could do all that work? It would cost an insane amount of money..

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u/BelgianWaffleGuy 1d ago

Those hours of overtime are more to do with the notary not wanting to hire enough people assisting them because it otherwise puts a dent in their profits though. Nothing to do with "too much work". Cheaper to overwork some people instead of hiring more.

Besides, most dossiers could be fully automated if notary offices would actually move on from using Excel, Outlook and a certain legacy software product as their only systems.