The notarization of a signature is a very simple type of notarial action, the only thing the notary does is to say that the signature on a document belongs to a specific person.
Legitimation in which the signatory goes to the Notary's office and, after identifying himself/herself by presenting his/her ID card, in the presence of the Notary, stamps his/her signature on the document to be legitimated.
Model of a note of seen and legitimated:
I, Jesús Benavides Lima, Notary Public of Barcelona, of the Notarial Association of Catalonia.
I WITNESS: That I consider legitimate the above initialed signature of Mr./Ms. ******* with ID number *******, as it has been made in my presencein accordance with Article 259 of the Notarial Regulations.
Corresponds to the number ****** of the Indicator Book.
In Barcelona, on a daily/monthly/annual basis.
Legitimation in which the signatory goes to the Notary's office and, after identifying himself/herself by presenting his/her ID card, acknowledges before the Notary that the signature on a document belongs to him/her.
Model of a note of seen and legitimated:
I, Jesús Benavides Lima, Notary Public of Barcelona, of the Notarial Association of Catalonia.
I WITNESS: That I consider legitimate the above initialed signature of DON/DOÑA ******* with ID number *******, who appears before me and recognizes it in my presencein accordance with Article 259 of the Notarial Regulations.
Corresponds to the number ****** of the Indicator Book.
In Barcelona, on a daily/monthly/annual basis.
Legitimation in which the Notary, because he/she is aware of the signature of the document (since, for example, it belongs to a regular client whose signature is fully known to him/her), certifies that the signature corresponds to the person in question.
Model of a note of seen and legitimated:
I, Jesús Benavides Lima, Notary Public of Barcelona, of the Notarial Association of Catalonia.
I WITNESS: That I consider legitimate the above initialed signature of Mr/Ms ******* with ID number *******, being personally known to mein accordance with Article 259 of the Notarial Regulations.
Corresponds to the number ****** of the Indicator Book.
In Barcelona, on a daily/monthly/annual basis.
Legitimation in which the Notary certifies that the signature corresponds to a certain person, as it fully coincides with another one that appears in a previous document also notarized.
Model of a note of seen and legitimated:
I, Jesús Benavides Lima, Notary Public of Barcelona, of the Notarial Association of Catalonia.
I WITNESS: That I consider the above initialed signature of Mr./Mrs. ******* with ID number ******* as legitimate, as it coincides with another original signature authenticated in a reliable mannerin accordance with Article 259 of the Notarial Regulations.
Corresponds to the number ****** of the Indicator Book.
In Barcelona, on a daily/monthly/annual basis.
Legitimation in which the Notary certifies that the signature corresponds to a specific person, since it fully coincides with the signature of that person that already appears in a previous deed or deed signed in the Notary's office in the past.
Model of a note of seen and legitimated:
I, Jesús Benavides Lima, Notary Public of Barcelona, of the Notarial Association of Catalonia.
I WITNESS: That I consider legitimate the above initialed signature of Mr./Ms. ******* with ID number *******, as it appears in my protocol or indicator bookin accordance with Article 259 of the Notarial Regulations.
Corresponds to the number ****** of the Indicator Book.
In Barcelona, on a daily/monthly/annual basis.
Legitimation in which the Notary certifies that a signature corresponds to a specific person, since it fully coincides with the signature of said person in his/her National Identity Card, which is shown at the Notary's office.
Model of a note of seen and legitimated:
I, Jesús Benavides Lima, Notary Public of Barcelona, of the Notarial Association of Catalonia.
I WITNESS: That I consider legitimate the above initialed signature of Mr./Mrs. ******* with ID number *******, as it coincides with the national identity document exhibited..
Corresponds to the number ****** of the Indicator Book.
In Barcelona, on a daily/monthly/annual basis.
It should be noted that this tool only calculates the cost of notarizing signatures of national documents, i.e., which must be effective within Spain. When the document whose signature is to be notarized is to be used abroad, it will require the corresponding apostille by the College of Notaries and will also have to be in the specific format of a notarial deed, therefore, the economic cost will be very different, and this calculator is not useful. (For more detailed information on the notarization of a foreign document, you can find it here. here).
This is a merely informative and non-binding estimate. This estimate is calculated based on two criteria: 1) our knowledge of the Notarial Tariff and 2) our daily experience in the preparation of this type of notarial document. (Royal Decree 1426/1989, November 17, 1989). and 2) our daily experience in the preparation of this type of notarial document. However, any variation (upward or downward) will be duly justified at the time of issuing the final invoice for the notarial service rendered.
A signature authentication is a very simple notarial act, by means of which a Notary certifies or attests that a certain signature, which appears in a document, corresponds to a specific person.
<ejemplo>Así pues, por ejemplo, si el Sr. Antonio desea obtener un certificado digital para realizar trámites con la administración, pero está muy ocupado con su trabajo y no puede acudir presencialmente a solicitarlo, puede optar por rellenar el formulario correspondiente y acudir a un Notario, el cual, mediante este trámite rápido y sencillo, legitimará su firma, dando fe que la misma corresponde al Sr. Antonio, tras lo cual, éste ya podrá entregar el formulario a una tercera persona de su confianza, por ejemplo, su hermano Juan, para que sea éste el que acuda a la Administración correspondiente a realizar la solicitud de obtención del certificado digital que el Sr. Antonio necesita para realizar trámites con la Agencia Tributaria, por ejemplo.<ejemplo>
Thus, thanks to the notarization of signatures, we will be able to accredit before third parties, addressees of a document, that the signature that appears in it corresponds to a specific person, thus giving certainty and legal security to all the parties that the signature that appears in that document truly corresponds to the person to whom it is attributed, in order to assure its authenticity and veracity.
In this sense, it is necessary to remember that Notaries are public officials, specialists in private law, whose main mission is to attest the business and legal acts granted before their person, so that, through this notarization of signature, we get a public authority to certify that the signature corresponds to a specific person, thus ensuring that no person can doubt the authenticity of the same.
Finally, it should be noted that, from a strictly legal point of view, a notarization of a signature is, according to Article 256 of the Notarial Regulations, "a testimony attesting to the fact that a signature has been placed before the notary, or to the notary's judgment as to whether it belongs to a specific person".
As indicated in the preceding question, the notarization of signatures serves mainly to prove that a signature on a document belongs to a specific person, since by means of this act, a Notary Public, that is, a public official invested with public faith, guarantees and assures any person that said signature corresponds to the person who has signed it, thus providing certainty and legal security to the recipient of the document that said signature and the content of the document actually correspond to the person indicated therein and who signs it.
<ejemplo>Así pues, por ejemplo, si la Sra. María, propietaria de una vivienda, comprada en su momento mediante un préstamo hipotecario, ahora ya pagado, y una vez transcurridos 21 años desde que abonó la última cuota de su préstamo, desea cancelar registralmente dicha hipoteca que grava su vivienda, puede optar por solicitar dicha cancelación al Registro de la Propiedad mediante una instancia privada, la cual, para asegurar que la misma ha sido elaborada por la Sra. María, en el Registro de la Propiedad le exigirán que dicho documento se presente con la firma legitimada notarialmente, para así asegurar que la persona que solicita la cancelación es verdaderamente la Sra. María, esto es, la propietaria de la vivienda y única legitimada para instar este trámite.<ejemplo>
Likewise, the notarization of signature has another collateral effect, since thanks to it, it is possible to certify before third parties the date of a document, since in the notarization of signature that will be incorporated by the Notary in the document to be notarized, the date on which said procedure is carried out will be stated, with which, before third parties, it will be possible to prove that said document, on that specific date, had already been drawn up.
This effect derives from the provisions of Article 1227 of the Civil Code, which establishes that "the date of a private document shall not be valid against third parties except...from the day on which it is delivered to a public official by reason of his office".
On the contrary, it must be taken into account that in a private document containing a date, such date cannot be verified against third parties, since any other person may always allege that such date is incorrect or that it has been incorporated a posteriori at an undetermined time.
<ejemplo>Así pues, retomando el ejemplo anterior, si la Sra. María acude al Notario a legitimar esa instancia privada en fecha de hoy, esto es, 2 de septiembre de 2021, en la diligencia de legitimación constará que este trámite notarial se ha realizado el 2 de septiembre de 2021, de modo que, frente a cualquier persona, se podrá acreditar que la Sra. María firmó este documento en esta fecha concreta.<ejemplo>
Broadly speaking, as established in Article 256 of the Notarial Regulations, the notarization of a notarial signature can be done in two ways:
In the first place, which is the most usual, is that the client goes to the Notary's office with his identity document (ID card or passport in case of foreigners), after which, once the Notary has identified him, the client will proceed to sign the document, thus verifying the Notary that this signature corresponds to him, after which, the signature can be notarized.
However, the applicable regulations (specifically, Article 259 of the Notarial Regulations), also allow the Notary to legitimize a signature, when in his opinion, and under his responsibility, although the signature has not been placed in his presence, the notary can certify that it corresponds to a specific person. In this sense, the ways or options that the Notary will have to verify the ownership of such signature are:
Unlike what happens in the majority of interventions of a Notary, as for example in a deed, in which the Notary supervises and ensures that the legal content of the document complies with the current legality, in the notarization of a signature this does not happen, so that the Notary will not verify whether the content of the document presented to him is correct or not from a legal point of view, but will only verify that the signature on it corresponds to the person who is indicated and identified in the Notary's office.
This is an effect of the provisions of Article 256 of the Notarial Regulations, which establishes that "the notary shall not assume responsibility for the content of the document whose signatures he/she authenticates".
<ejemplo>Así pues, cuando un cliente acuda a la Notaría a legitimar notarialmente la firma de un documento, no puede esperar que el Notario estudie dicho documento y verifique que su contenido se ajusta a la legalidad, pues el Notario, de conformidad con la ley, lo único que hará es dar fe que esa firma corresponde a la persona que se indica.<ejemplo>
In view of the above, as important consequences to be taken into account, it is necessary to bear in mind that:
The answer is emphatically no, since the applicable regulations, specifically Article 258 of the Notarial Regulations, establish that only documents for which the law does not require the form of a public deed, private contract or notarized policy can be subject to notarization of signature.
Thus, it is necessary to take into account that, in certain cases, the law requires that the act or contract to be performed, either be recorded in a public deed, or in a notarized policy, or in a private document, in which case, it will not be possible to resort to notarization of signature.
Thus, for example:
Consequently, in all these cases, as for example in the purchase and sale of a real estate, the acceptance of an inheritance, a contract for the purchase and sale of a machine worth one million euros, etc. it will not be possible for the parties to document the act or business in a private document and go to the Notary to legitimize the signatures of the same, because as has been indicated, in all these cases, the law requires that the document or act be instrumented through a public deed, intervening policy or a private contract, which, if necessary, if the parties so wish, they can elevate it to public by granting the corresponding deed.
Following on from the previous question, and in addition, as indicated above, the law requires that certain acts or contracts must be evidenced either by a public deed or by a notarized policy.
Through this system of public faith established by law, for acts or businesses of great importance for individuals (such as buying a house, mortgaging it, making a will, accepting an inheritance, borrowing money, providing a guarantee in favor of a third party, etc.), a mechanism has been established whereby a Notary Public, that is, a public official, independent and impartial, and a specialist in private law, will intervene in such businesses, authorizing the deeds granted by the parties and:
In view of this, as can be seen, the role that the law reserves to the Notary Public goes far beyond legitimizing signatures, but his function is crucial for the legal security of a company and the proper functioning of civil and commercial traffic.
Therefore, it is evident that, if any kind of legal act or business could be instrumented by means of a notarized private document, the function of the Notary (verification of legal capacity and legitimacy, advice and ensuring compliance with the law) would be completely emptied of content, Therefore, it is for this reason that the law prevents the notarization of any legal act or business that must be instrumented by means of a public deed, intervened policy or, as the case may be, private contract, which, if the contracting parties so wish, can always be made public by means of the corresponding deed.
In accordance with the applicable regulations, in the event that the document to be notarized is subject to taxation, it is not possible to notarize the signatures of the same if the corresponding taxes have not been previously paid.
In this sense, see Article 252.2 of the Notarial Regulations (and also the Inheritance and Gift Tax and Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty Regulations), which establishes that "private documents that must be compulsorily presented to the Tax Administration may only be attested when their presentation is on record".
The purpose of this measure is to prevent the possible legitimization of a document subject to taxation without the tax having been paid, thus avoiding the facilitation of a way to, if applicable, accredit the statute of limitations of the tax once the term determined by the tax regulations for this purpose has elapsed.
In accordance with the applicable regulations, it is only possible to legitimize the signature of documents that are written in the official language of the place of issue of the testimony (in our case, as it is Catalonia, it could be Spanish or Catalan).
Likewise, the law also allows notarizing the signature of documents drafted in a language that the Notary knows or, in case he/she does not know it, if an official translation is provided.
In all other cases, if it is not possible to resort to one of the aforementioned methods, the most appropriate solution is to opt for the notarial act accompanied by a document drafted in a foreign language that the notary does not know or for which the relevant translation is not provided.
In principle, it is most usual that only the person who signs the document can request the legitimization of his signature, since the contrary could leave the door open to eventual fraudulent actions or against the will of the signatory.
However, it is also necessary to indicate that also, in those cases in which a third party can prove a legitimate interest, it is possible to legitimize the signature of the document at the request of a person other than the one who has signed it, since as already indicated in a previous question, it is possible to legitimize the signature of a person by alternative means, such as the legitimization by knowledge of the Notary or by comparison with another signature that appears in the protocol or register book in charge of the Notary.
<ejemplo>Así pues, por ejemplo, ello suele ser muy habitual en la actividad de gestorías, las cuales, deben presentar escritos e instancias de forma masiva ante las Administraciones Públicas, en nombre y representación de sus clientes, de modo que es la gestoría la que acude a la Notaría a legitimar documentos que han sido firmados no por un empleado o apoderado de dicha gestoría, sino por un tercero, esto es, su cliente.<ejemplo>
In any case, as is evident, in these cases, notarization of the signature will only be possible if the notary appreciates an adequate legitimate interest.
As is evident, the answer can only be a resounding no, because if the signature on a blank document were to be legitimized, the door would be left open to breaches of the law, since it could subsequently incorporate acts or contracts subject to taxation or that must be instrumented in a public deed or audited policy. Therefore, it is not possible to legitimize the signature of a document without any content.
In fact, the current legislation allows the legitimization of electronic signatures, but the regulation of this matter has been established in a way that makes the matter very difficult.
Thus, in these cases, in accordance with Article 261 of the Notarial Regulations, "the notary shall identify the signatory and verify the validity of the recognized certificate on which the electronic signature generated by a secure signature creation device is based, shall witness the signature by the signatory of the computer file containing the document and shall record the notarization by means of a document in electronic format, issued by the notary with a recognized electronic signature. This notarization shall have the same value as the notarization made by the notary with respect to paper documents".
In view of the above, as can be seen, the notarization of electronic signatures is possible only and exclusively in the event that the electronic document has been digitally signed in the presence of the Notary, which means that the practical applicability of this solution would be rather limited.
In any case, as indicated, this is a debatable and disputed issue among notarial doctrine.
The person whose signature must be notarized must always present his DNI at the notary's office. In the case of a foreigner, it will be necessary his passport and, if he has it, his NIE.
