1. Must be notarized or certified when transferring the name
According to Point a, Clause 3, Article 27 of the 2024 Land Law: Notarization and certification of contracts and documents exercising the rights of land users are carried out as follows:
- Contracts for transfer, donation, mortgage, capital contribution using land use rights, land use rights and assets attached to land must be notarized or certified, except for the cases specified in Point b of this Clause.
2. Notarized or certified contracts have the same value when transferred
Pursuant to Point a, Clause 3, Article 27 of the 2024 Land Law, the transfer contract in the file when transferring real estate is not distinguished between a notarized contract or a certified contract.
Note: Having the same legal value when transferring the Certificate does not mean having the same legal value when disputing or filing a lawsuit.
3. Choose between notarization and certification
When transferring real estate, the parties have the right to choose notarization or contract certification.
Accordingly, depending on the wish, travel, and implementation fee that the parties choose to suit their case (usually to ensure legal safety, the parties choose notarization at the Notary Office or the State Notary Office).
4. Can I only notarize in provinces and cities where there are real estate?
Pursuant to Article 42 of the 2014 Notary Law stipulating: Notary public of the operating organization, the notary public certification, real estate transactions within the provinces and centrally -run cities where the notary practice is headquartered, except for notarization of the will, the document refuses to receive real estate and authorization documents related to the exercise of rights to real estate.
5. Place of certification of real estate transfer contracts
Clause 2, Article 5 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP stipulates the authority and responsibility of the People's Committees of communes, wards and towns as follows:
- Certification of contracts and transactions related to the exercise of land users' rights according to the provisions of the Land Law.
- Certify housing contracts and transactions according to the provisions of the Housing Law.
In addition, the People's Committees of communes, wards and towns have the authority to manage within the administrative boundaries of their localities (according to the Law on Organization of Local Government 2015).
Thus, the place to certify the real estate transfer contract is the People's Committee of the commune, ward, or town where the real estate is transferred.
6. Does a family member need to be present when notarizing/ certifying?
When the land is under the use rights of an individual, the transfer depends on the will of that individual; in this case, the notarization shall be directly done by the land user or authorized by another person. As for household land, there are many complicated cases.
In principle, when transferring land from a household, it must be agreed by all members of the household. In case the family member using the land is not present, the representative must be authorized. This content is clearly stated in Point b, Clause 2, Article 27 of the 2024 Land Law.
According to the above regulations, family members using land are not required to be present when notarizing or certifying the transfer contract.
7. Who is the person who pays the notary fee?
Clause 1, Article 66 of the 2014 Notary Law stipulates as follows: The person requesting notarization of the contract, transaction, translation, preservation of will, or issuance of a notarized document must pay the notary fee.
