Usually, to certify documents or receive other notaries’ services, you must come to the notary’s office. However, in Belarus, it is already possible to obtain some information remotely that is not a notarial secret. Also, several amendments have been adopted to allow interaction with notaries without personal presence in the notary’s office. Such amendments will take effect in July 2024. You can consult with our lawyers to understand the possibilities of remote interaction with notaries.
Why it is essential to be able to interact with a notary remotely
The ability to interact with a notary remotely has many advantages. Here are some of them:
- Time saving: Remote interaction with the notary avoids the need to travel to the notary’s office, which significantly saves time.
- Convenience: the ability to interact with a notary remotely makes the document processing process more convenient and accessible for people with disabilities or busy schedules.
- Security: in an emergency, remote interaction with a notary ensures security and reduces risks.
- Accessibility for all regions: remote interaction with a notary allows you to provide access to notary services for people outside Belarus or in remote parts of the country.
- Reducing bureaucracy: the ability to interact with a notary remotely simplifies the paperwork process and reduces the need for seals and physical presence, which reduces bureaucratic costs.
Thus, interacting with a notary remotely is an important step towards improving the availability of notary services and simplifying the process of obtaining them.
What notarial information can be checked remotely
For persons abroad in Belarus and, in some cases, for residents of Belarus, information about notarized powers of attorney and open inheritance cases may be relevant. Such information is not classified as a notary secret and is available on the Belarusian Notary Chamber’s website.
Information about powers of attorney
A power of attorney must be certified by a notary when one individual issues it to another individual. The company can also give a notarized power of attorney to a representative who is not an employee of this company. They often issue power of attorney for the purchase or sale of property. Logically, the parties to the transaction want to verify the validity of the power of attorney of the representatives of the parties to the transaction.
You can check remotely:
- Whether a power of attorney representative presented was issued.
- The data of the person who issued a power of attorney: the surname, first name, patronymic (if any) of the individual or the name of the company.
- The date of certification of the power of attorney.
- Who certified a power of attorney: surname, first name, patronymic (if any) of the notary, an official of the foreign institution.
- Is such a power of attorney valid: if the power of attorney is cancelled, you can see the date of cancellation of the power of attorney.
Information about the opening of an inheritance case
It is crucial to remotely receive information about the opening of an inheritance case when:
- There is no exact information about the date of death of the testator, and therefore, it is unclear whether the 6—month deadline for inheritance has been missed or not.
- The heirs are located outside Belarus.
- The heirs have lost contact with the testator but have information about his death.
In such cases, the heirs need to know:
- Will they manage to inherit from a notary or the deadline has been missed and you need to go to court to inherit.
- Which notary should you contact to accept the inheritance when the six-month deadline has been met.
- Which territorial Belarusian court to apply to when the deadline for inheritance is missed. In such cases, the services of a lawyer are usually required, for which you can contact our company.
You can check and clarify remotely:
- The testator’s first name, last name, and patronymic.
- The date of the testator’s death.
- The surname, first name and patronymic (if any) of the notary who conducts the inheritance case.
You can get other information from notaries remotely, make notarial transactions, and certify documents using a power of attorney issued to our lawyers.
Remote interaction with notaries since July 2024
Since July 2024, some documents and actions can be performed at the notary in person (as now) and remotely. Individuals and companies represented by representatives can contact the notary remotely. The notary will perform notarial actions that were applied remotely by the next business day after receiving the necessary documents. For remote notarial actions, as well as for ordinary ones, you need to pay a notary fee.
It will be possible to contact a notary remotely: on paper (send an appeal by mail) or in electronic form, that is, through a personal account on the website of the Belarusian Notary Chamber and through other resources of the Belarusian Notary Chamber. The personal account will provide several opportunities for remote interaction with notaries. For example, to obtain notarial documents, select a notary and send documents for drafting notarial documents.
What will be required for remote access to a notary
To apply by mail, the signature’s authenticity must be certified by a notary or an authorized person at a foreign institution (embassy or consulate of Belarus in another state).
To apply to a notary via the Internet, you will need to sign the application with an electronic digital signature. Notaries are expected to be able to draw up notarial documents in the form of electronic documents. The persons to whom such documents will be issued will need an electronic digital signature to sign them. You can get an electronic digital signature right now. Our lawyers will advise you on all issues related to registering an electronic digital signature.
What notarial actions can be applied remotely from July 2024
Without a personal visit to the notary’s office, you can apply in particular:
- For the issuance of a certificate of inheritance.
- For the certification of the powers of the executor of the will.
- For the certificate of the spouse’s ownership right to a share in the common property.
- To certify the correctness of the translation of documents.
- For the execution of executive inscriptions.
- For the establishment of legal succession, changes in the company name, surname, and name of an individual in relation to one of the parties according to the executive inscription.
- For the acceptance of money and securities by the notary as a deposit.
- For the acceptance of electronic documents for storage.
- For providing evidence in the form of documents and information that exists on the Internet and is needed for conducting cases in Belarusian courts, as well as for giving proof for conducting cases in foreign courts and other bodies.
How we can be useful in remote interaction with notaries
Our staff often interact with notaries and are ready for all changes in this area. We can:
- Advise you on issues of remote interaction with notaries.
- Accompany the process of interaction with notaries.
- Consult on the necessary documents and their translation into Russian or Belarusian.
- Prepare documents for remote interaction with notaries.
- Represent your interests in remote interaction with notaries.
Contact us
If you have any questions related to remote interaction with notaries, we will be happy to help you! Our many years of experience will help you resolve any disputes.
Phone and e-mail communication options are available for your convenience:
- +375293664477 (WhatsApp/Telegram/Viber);
- info@ambylegal.by
