Escritura Pública in Spain is a notarized document that may be required in various situations. The public deed is a public document, signed in the presence of a notary public, which records a certain contract or legal act. Through the public deed, the notary confirms and certifies a certain action, such as the signing of a contract.
During the procedure, the notary always checks the content of the document, records the fact of its existence, its validity, compliance with the current legislation, certifies the identities and signatures of the parties involved.
Further public deeds may be registered in the relevant public registers: for example, real estate sale and purchase transactions are registered in the Property Register, company incorporation documents are registered in the Commercial Register, etc.
Transactions Requiring the Signature of Public Deed (Escritura Pública) in Spain
A number of legal actions and procedures require the signing of an official public document in front of the notary – a public deed. Notarization in this case gives the action legal force in accordance with the requirements of the law.
Let us list the main operations that require notarization, although in reality the list is much wider:
- Purchase and sale of movable and immovable property. For example, in the case of the sale and purchase of real estate, the public deed details the terms of the contract, the price, the rights to the property, the presence or absence of encumbrances and other important aspects.
- Wills and distribution of inheritance.
- Establishment of a company (LLC, JSC and some other organizational and legal forms).
- Registration of a mortgage loan and some other loans.
It is important to understand the difference between a public deed and an ordinary notarial deed. The public deed has the legal force of a contract and can only be challenged in court. The notarial deed, on the other hand, is not a contract and can be withdrawn by the applicant (e.g. a power of attorney).
Public Deed (Escritura Pública) in Spain: Main Characteristics
Public Deed in Spain is designed to ensure the security of all parties to a contract or legal act: the notary, by signing this official document, gives legal force to a specific fact by leaving a record of it in his register. Only then the private deed is given the status of an official document.
For a public deed to be valid, all persons involved or their authorized representatives must be present at its signing.
The preparation and signing of a public deed in Spain is considered an act of goodwill on the part of the applicant or the parties involved. For example, in the case of a property sale and purchase, by signing Deed of sale (Escritura de compraventa), both the buyer and the seller demonstrate that they fully agree to the terms and conditions set out therein and undertake to honour their commitments.
Public deed must be drafted in Spanish and must be a single document without spaces or abbreviations. The parties involved must receive the full text before signing so that they can fully familiarize themselves with it and make the necessary adjustments, clarifications and additions.
Public deed in Spain is an executory document with the evidentiary value of the dates, facts and statements contained therein. It is an integral document, complete and unalterable, which does not require any further verification, comparison or approval, and which has full force from the moment it is notarized.
Public Deed (Escritura Pública) in Spain: Original and Copies
Public deed is only distributed in the form of copies, whether paper or electronic versions. That is, applicants and/or parties always receive copies on special stamped paper for notarial purposes: both at the time of the initial execution of the document and at a later date (e.g. restoration in case of loss or deterioration). Copies may be either certified (Copia autorizada) or simple (Copia simple). The original is the version stored in the form of a protocol in the notary’s archive and containing the signatures of all parties.
In the future, according to the established terms and procedures, the original will be transferred to the archive of the notarial collegium of which the notary is a member, and later to the Historical Archive.
Public Deed Structure and Information Contained Therein
Public deed is a multi-page document that can be divided into three parts. The first part is the introduction, the second part is the body of the document, its main text, and the third part is the conclusion. Each part contains certain information:
Introduction:
- Place and date of public deed signing.
- Protocol number.
- Name of the notary.
- Name, nationality, civil status, profession and occupation of the applicants, indicating that they are acting on their own behalf and in their personal interests.
- Identity documents of the applicants and documents that the notary deems necessary to indicate.
- The circumstances of the participation of official representatives and documents confirming their authorization.
- Evidence of the participation of interpreters if any of the applicants or parties do not speak Spanish.
- Evidence of the full legal capacity of the parties.
Basic text: depending on the action to be taken (purchase or sale of real estate, incorporation of a company, etc.), the body will contain all the necessary information from the facts, background and intentions of the parties to a description of the specific circumstances, conditions, agreements and obligations. The body of the public deed records the statement or expression of will of the parties. All necessary additional documents are also attached here as an integral part.
Conclusion:
- A note on the completion of all mandatory explanations and warnings by the notary, on the reading of the text of the document aloud and on the compliance of the document with the rules of law and the will of the parties.
- Indication of the serial numbers of the pages on which the document is drawn up.
- Signatures of the parties, including representatives and interpreters.
- Signature of the notary and his seal.
To sign a public deed in Spain, it is possible to choose any notary without reference to the place of residence, based solely on personal considerations and preferences.
