How to settle a dispute with a notary?

Verified 17 August 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)

In case of dispute with a notary, you must first send him a written complaint in an attempt to resolve the dispute. In the absence of a satisfactory response, several remedies are possible depending on your objective: to refer the matter to the notary's ombudsman to seek an amicable solution, to address a complaint to the regional or interregional council of notaries, to initiate disciplinary proceedings or to take legal action to obtain compensation for damage or to have an offense punished. We present you the steps to be taken.

The dispute between you and the notary you have appointed may relate to various subjects, including:

  • Charging too high rates
  • Delay or negligence in processing the file
  • Refusal of appointment
  • Error in writing a notarial act
  • Defending your own interests at the expense of yours
  • Lack of impartiality between the different parties of a case
  • Disclosure of confidential elements of the file to other persons (breach of professional secrecy)
  • Bad legal advice.

Step-by-step approach

In case of difficulty, you must first address a written complaint to the notary. This letter must:

  • Clearly state the facts (dates, acts signed, commitments made)
  • Indicate what you are complaining about (for example, lack of advice, error in the act, incomprehensible costs, delay)
  • Request a reasoned explanation of the alleged facts
  • Formulate a proposal for a solution (rectification, remittance of costs, amicable compensation, etc.).

It is recommended to send this complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or a registered letter online (LRE).

FYI  

The notary has the obligation toexplain to his client the reasons for a refusal to draw up an act or the conditions for its intervention and submit a detailed statement of charges (rights, disbursements, emoluments, fees).

If the notary has not answered you in a 2 months delay or if you are not satisfied with the answer, you can contact the notary's consumer ombudsman free of charge.

FYI  

If you do not wish to have recourse to the mediator, you can address a complaint to the Regional Council of Notaries or the Interdepartmental Chamber of Notaries to which the notary concerned depends.

Mediation is confidential. It is conducted by a third party neutral, independent, competent and impartial, responsible for proposing an amicable solution acceptable to everyone.

Request for mediation

The request for mediation can be made online, by email or by post.

You have a maximum delay of 1 year from the time the complaint is sent to the notary.

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Online

You can contact the notarial ombudsman via an online service:

Contact the notary's ombudsman via the internet

Your request must be accompanied by any document justifying the situation that led to the litigation.

You must obligatory attach the complaint you have sent to the notary.

By email

To contact the notary's ombudsman, you can also download and fill out the following form:

Referring the matter to the notary's ombudsman

Then, you must send this form to the notarial ombudsman.

Who shall I contact

Your request must be accompanied by any document justifying the situation that led to the litigation.

You must obligatory attach the complaint you have sent to the notary.

By post

To contact the notarial ombudsman, you can download, fill in and print the following form:

Referring the matter to the notary's ombudsman

Then, you must send this form to the notarial ombudsman.

Who shall I contact

Your request must be accompanied by any document justifying the situation that led to the litigation.

You must obligatory attach the complaint you have sent to the notary.

Processing of the request for mediation

Your request is processed by the notary's ombudsman.

He can validate it or declare it inadmissible.

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Validated Request

If your request is validated, the mediator will inform you within 3 weeks from the day he receives it.

Following this validation, the notarial ombudsman examines the elements that you and the notary have provided him.

3 months after receiving your file, the notary's mediator sends you a mediation proposal. It is also addressed to the notary concerned.

Please note

This period may be longer if the situation is complex and the Ombudsman needs more information.

Application inadmissible

If your request is not validated (for example, if you have not previously tried to resolve the dispute with the notary), you are notified within 5 days from the time he received it.

In this case, mediation does not take place.

However, you can directly contact the regional or interregional council of notaries to which the notary concerned or the public prosecutor so he can investigate.

At the same time, you have the opportunity to make a legal action provided that the notary's fault constitutes civil fault or a offense.

Outcomes of mediation

The notarial ombudsman may make several proposals, including:

  • Reimbursement or reduction of notary fees
  • Rectification or cancelation of a notarial act
  • Recommendations made to the notary (for example, review his professional practices).

Mediation can end in 3 different ways:

  • You and the notary accept the mediator's proposal. In this case, the litigation is resolved.
  • You and/or the notary refuse the mediation proposal. In this case, you can directly contact the regional council of notaries, the public prosecutor or assign the notary before the ordinary courts (e.g. court of justice).
  • You and/or the notary have not replied within 15 days of the mediation proposal. This is tantamount to refusal of mediation. Thus, you can refer to the regional or interregional council of notaries, the public prosecutor or assign the notary before the ordinary courts.

Complaint addressed to the regional or interregional council of notaries

If you do not wish to resort to mediation or if mediation fails, you must send a dated and signed complaint to the president of the regional or interregional council of notaries to which the professional with whom you have a relationship depends litigation.

FYI  

Depending on the regional or interregional council you enter, the complaint can be sent by post, by email or be made directly online.

The claim must include the following:

  • Your first and last names, your profession, your postal address, your date and place of birth
  • The surname and forenames of the notary concerned and the contact details of his notarial office
  • The facts at the origin of the complaint (what you criticize the notary)
  • Any supporting evidence relevant to the examination of the claim.

Please note

If you are the legal representative of a legal person (example: business manager), you must indicate the information that concerns you (surname, first name, function in the company), the legal form and the company's name.

As soon as he receives your complaint, the president of the regional or interregional council of notaries issues you an acknowledgement of receipt.

He shall also inform the notary concerned and ask him to submit his observations.

Decision of the Regional or Interregional Council of Notaries

After examining your claim, the president of the regional or interregional council of notaries may decide:

  • To close the case without further action
  • Or to open a conciliation with the notary involved
  • Or forward the file to the Notaries' Disciplinary Chamber.

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Classification without follow-up

The president of the regional or interregional council of notaries may decide to close the case without further action if he considers that the complaint is abusive or manifestly unfounded.

He must inform you as soon as possible of this decision.

On this occasion, he informs you that you have the possibility to directly refer the matter to the chamber of discipline of notaries and / or the attorney general so he can investigate.

Opening a conciliation

If he believes that your claim is admissible, the president of the regional or interregional council of notaries may initiate a conciliation between you and the notary involved.

The conciliator may propose one of the following solutions:

  • Reimbursement or reduction of notary fees
  • Correcting an error or adding a clause in the notarial act
  • Total revision of the notarial act
  • Financial compensation for the harm you have suffered.

If the conciliation results in an amicable solution, a report is drawn up and given to you. The dispute is settled.

In case of failure of the conciliation, the president of the regional council of notaries informs you that you have the possibility to seize:

  • The Disciplinary Chamber of Notaries to discipline the notary concerned
  • Or the attorney general on which the notary depends geographically, for him to conduct an investigation.

FYI  

At the same time, you can apply to the ordinary courts (example: court of justice) provided that the fault of the notary constitutes a civil fault or a offense.

Referral to the Disciplinary Chamber of Notaries

If he considers that the claim is admissible and if the situation that you present to him justifies it, the president of the regional or interregional council of notaries can transmit the file to the chamber of discipline of notaries.

You and the notary concerned are informed.

FYI  

If he finds that the notary has not complied with his obligations, the president of the regional or interregional council may send him a letter call to order or order it to cease the breach.

These measures may be taken after a adversarial procedure, without any disciplinary proceedings being initiated.

The Notaries' Disciplinary Chamber has the task of disciplining notaries for non-compliance with their professional rules.

You can enter it if any of the following occurred:

  • The attempt at mediation did not lead to a settlement of the litigation
  • Your complaint has been dismissed by the president of the regional or interregional council to which the notary concerned belongs
  • The attempt at conciliation was unsuccessful.

FYI  

In parallel to this action, you can also bring an action before the ordinary courts (example: court of justice) if the notary's fault constitutes civil fault or a offense. This will allow you to obtain compensation and, eventually, the criminal conviction of the notary.

Request addressed to the Notaries' Disciplinary Chamber

Your request must be made by query addressed to the disciplinary chamber located at the competent regional or interregional council of notaries at the time of the facts.

This request must contain a statement of the procedures that you have previously initiated (example: the fact that you have referred the matter to the regional council of notaries) and the follow-up given to them.

It must be accompanied by all the supporting documents proving your situation and the actions you have taken.

You must signify your query and the order fixing the date and time of the hearing, to the notary you are attacking.

FYI  

To help you in your efforts and obtain assistance before the disciplinary chamber, you can call on a lawyer.

Who shall I contact

Decision of the Disciplinary Chamber of Notaries

After hearing all the parties, the members of the Disciplinary Chamber shall make their decision and you shall notify.

When a notary's misconduct is found, the Disciplinary Chamber may impose a disciplinary penalty on him.

In case of urgency, the decision is taken by the president of the disciplinary chamber to which the notary involved depends.

General scenario

The disciplinary court may impose a disciplinary penalty against the notary. This may include one of the following sanctions:

  • Warning
  • Blame
  • Prohibition to practice the profession of notary for a maximum period of 10 years
  • Impeachment (this entails a permanent ban on the exercise of the right to practice)
  • Maximum fine €10,000 or 5% from turnover excluding current year's taxes.
In case of emergency

The president of the disciplinary court may provisionally suspend from office a notary who is the subject of a disciplinary and/or criminal investigation or prosecution.

Before doing so, it must obtain its observations at a adversarial debate.

The duration of the suspension is maximum 6 months. It can be renewed once.

The notary may appeal to the national court of discipline.

Appeal against the decision of the Disciplinary Chamber of Notaries

If you are not satisfied with the decision of the Disciplinary Chamber, you can challenge it in a 2 months delay following its notification.

Your appeal must be addressed to the secretariat of the National Disciplinary Court, located at the High Council of Notaries.

You must also notify your call to others parties (example: notary involved).

Where the notary has committed a civil fault or a offense, you can take legal action to obtain compensation for your injury and, possibly, the criminal conviction of the notary concerned.

Please note

Parallel to your legal action, you can also apply to the notaries' disciplinary chamber for disciplinary action against the professional concerned.

Civil liability

The civil liability of the notary may be engaged when the fault he committed caused you a injury.

This is possible in particular in the case of:

  • Forgetting an administrative delay that leads to penalties (taxes)
  • Error in writing a notarial act (error on name of parties to the contract, forgetting a clause essential, etc.)
  • Proposal for a legal arrangement questioned by the tax administration
  • Failure to perform his duty of verification (for example, the notary has not verified the validity of a will)
  • Failure to provide information (for example, the notary did not provide the correct information on the legal consequences of a contract).

Before entering the civil courts, you have to put the notary in formal notice take the necessary steps to ensure that your harm ends.

Then you can assign the notary before the civil courts.

Warning  

Before any action litigation, it is advisable to try to amicable settlement of the conflict.

For disputes whose amount does not exceed €5,000, the attempt to resolve the dispute amicably is mandatory.

The jurisdiction depends on the sums involved in the dispute.

  • For a dispute less than or equal to €10,000, it is the local court or the judicial court.
  • For a dispute greater than €10,000, it's the court of law.

FYI  

In front of local court, you can be assisted by a lawyer. In front of court of justice, the assistance of this professional is mandatory.

Who shall I contact

Criminal liability

The criminal liability of the notary may be incurred when the notary commits an offense. These may include:

If you wish to incur the criminal liability of the notary, you can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.

File a complaint with the public prosecutor

You also have the possibility to constitute a civil party for obtain compensation for your damage.

Who can help me?

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