In Italy the notary is not a formality at the end. He is the safeguard the whole system is built around.
Neutral by law, and personally liable if he gets it wrong.
Buyers from Britain, the United States and northern Europe almost always ask the same question: where is my lawyer in all this? It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that the Italian system puts that protective function somewhere else.
What the notary is. A public official, appointed by the state after a famously difficult examination. He is paid by the buyer but he does not represent the buyer. His duty is to the law and to the correctness of the transaction, and he answers personally for it.
What he actually does. Before the signing he verifies who owns the property, checks for mortgages, charges, seizures and registered rights of way, confirms the seller is entitled to sell, and confirms the building's paperwork. He then draws the deed, reads it aloud, and registers the transfer in your name. If a sale cannot lawfully proceed he stops it, whoever loses by that.
What it means for you. The check that elsewhere is done by your own solicitor is done here by an officer whose neutrality is the entire point. He is not on the seller's side because he is Italian and you are not.
Language. The deed itself is in Italian, and the law provides for a translator and, in some cases, witnesses. We work with notaries who speak English and who deal with foreign buyers regularly, which changes that day considerably.
And your own lawyer? You are free to appoint one, and some buyers do — particularly where there is a complicated inheritance or a company-owned property. We work with them without friction. What we will not do is tell you that you must hire one when the system already gives you a neutral public official.
Alongside the notary we keep our own legal back office. Its job is to read the documents early, when a problem is still cheap to solve, rather than the week before the signing.
