Buying or selling an apartment, gifting property to a family member, securing a loan, dividing assets or signing an agreement a bank will only accept in notarial form. This is the most document heavy category of notarial work, and the one where preparation decides whether the appointment takes an hour or falls apart.
Short answer: notarial certification of a transaction is broader than certifying signatures. The notary verifies identity, authority and the preconditions set by law for the transaction itself. Not every contract needs it - many agreements are valid in simple written form - but certain transactions require notarial form under the law, and banks or counterparties often require it in other cases. You will normally need valid identity documents for every party, the ownership and registry data for the object, any consents the transaction depends on, and corporate documents where a company is involved. Send the details on WhatsApp and you will get the document list before anyone books a day off work. Office: 118 David Aghmashenebeli Avenue, Tbilisi.
There is a real difference between a notary confirming that you signed a piece of paper and a notary certifying the transaction recorded on it.
In the first case the question is identity: who signed. In the second the notary is performing a broader act. Identity is verified, but so is the authority of each party to enter into this transaction, and the preconditions the law sets for the transaction concerned. Depending on the case that can involve registry data, title documents, consents from other entitled persons, corporate authorisations and other requirements.
This is why a notarized transaction takes longer, requires more documents and costs more than a certified signature. It is also why, where the notarial form is required, certified signatures will not substitute for it. See signature certification for the narrower act.
Most agreements in Georgia are valid in simple written form. A service contract, an ordinary commercial agreement or an arrangement between friends generally does not require a notary to be binding.
Notarial form enters in three situations:
The practical instruction is simple. Before assuming your contract needs a notary, ask the institution that will receive or act on it, in writing, what form they require. And before assuming it does not, check - discovering after the fact that a transaction needed notarial form is a considerably worse problem than paying a fee you did not strictly have to.
Apartments, houses, land and commercial premises. The most common notarial transaction in Tbilisi, and the one where registry data, title history and consents have to be in order before the day.
Transferring property within a family without payment. The parties' relationship, the object and any conditions attached need to be stated precisely.
Securing a loan against immovable property, usually at a bank's requirement and on the bank's terms. Coordination between the lender, the notary and the registry is the main scheduling issue.
Between individuals or with a company, where the lender wants the obligation recorded in notarial form. Amount, repayment terms, interest and security should all be explicit.
Dividing jointly held assets between spouses, heirs or co owners. Every share and object must be identified, and all entitled persons have to take part.
Leases, exchanges, assignments, settlement agreements and commercial contracts where a bank, registry or counterparty requires notarial form.
Wills, inheritance procedures and related matters are a separate area with their own rules and their own document trail. If that is your situation, describe it and the applicable route will be identified rather than assumed.
This distinction saves people from a specific and expensive misunderstanding.
The notary's side: identity of the parties, their authority to enter into the transaction, and the preconditions the law sets for the act. Where the case requires it, that extends to registry data, title documents, necessary consents and corporate authorisations.
Your side: whether this is a good deal. Whether the price is right, whether the repayment schedule is realistic, whether the property is worth what you are paying, whether the counterparty is someone you should be dealing with, and whether the terms protect you if things go wrong. The notary's involvement does not make a bad bargain into a good one.
So if the commercial terms matter - and in a property purchase they always do - have the contract drafted or reviewed before the appointment. Negotiating substance at the notary's desk with everyone waiting is how people agree to things they later regret. We prepare and translate the text; for legal advice on the terms themselves, involve a lawyer.
The list is always determined by the type of transaction. For a first assessment, send what you have and the gaps will be identified. In general terms:
Real estate is where most of this page's readers are, so a few specifics.
Check the registry before you commit. An up to date extract shows who is registered as owner and whether there is a mortgage, arrest, dispute or other encumbrance recorded. Doing this early, rather than at the notary, is the difference between renegotiating and losing a deposit.
Identify the property precisely. The cadastral code and the address, not "the flat on the fourth floor". Parking spaces, storage units and land plots attached to a purchase are separate objects and have to be named if they are part of the deal.
Establish who has to consent. Co owners, spouses in respect of jointly held assets, and other entitled persons depending on the situation. Missing one of them is the classic reason a signed transaction is challenged afterwards.
Plan the money. How and when payment moves, and what evidences it, should be agreed before the appointment, not improvised in the room. Where a bank is financing, the bank's own sequence usually governs.
Registration is a separate step. Notarial certification and registration of the right are not the same thing, and registration follows its own procedure and fees. Ask specifically who is handling it and by when.
A foreign citizen can normally be a party to a notarized transaction in Georgia with a valid passport. Two things then need managing.
Language. Where a party does not have command of the language of the act and the notary cannot establish their will without assistance, the act is performed with an interpreter, who also signs the relevant document. For a transaction, a written translation of the contract is usually prepared as well, because signing a document of real financial consequence that you cannot read is not something anyone should do on the strength of a verbal summary. Arrange both in advance; interpreter availability for less common languages is the usual bottleneck.
Names. Transliteration must match the passport exactly, and it must match across the contract, the registry filing and any related documents. A one letter difference between the contract and the registry record creates problems that surface months later, usually when you try to sell. Send us the passport pages in advance. See also legal translation service.
Where a party cannot attend, signing through a representative under a power of attorney is often possible, but the wording of that power decides everything. It has to cover this specific transaction and the terms the representative may agree - the object, and typically the authority to set or accept a price and to receive or pay funds where that is part of the role.
A general power of attorney drafted years ago for something else is the most common cause of an appointment that cannot proceed. If you are abroad and a relative will sign for you, have the power of attorney prepared for this transaction, and have it checked before the date is fixed. Where it is issued abroad it will usually need an apostille and a notarized translation into Georgian. See power of attorney in Georgia and, for signing from another country, the online notary page.
Tell us what is being transferred, between whom, whether a bank is involved and whether any party is abroad.
We identify what the notary and the registry will require, and what is missing from what you already have.
The contract is drafted or reviewed, translated where a party does not read Georgian, and every name and reference verified.
All parties attend, the notary certifies the transaction, and registration or apostille follows where required.
Describe the transaction and the parties. You will get the full document list, the participants who must attend and the cost estimate before any date is fixed.
Start on WhatsAppThis category behaves differently from the rest of the site. For simple documents the notary fee is broadly predictable. For transactions it is regulated but commonly linked to the value and type of the act, so a small loan agreement and an apartment purchase are not in the same range. Drafting, translation, interpreter attendance, copies and any apostille are additional, and registration carries its own separate fee.
Because of that, a meaningful figure needs the transaction described - what is being transferred, its value, how many parties, which languages. Send that and you will get an estimate rather than a guess. For general orientation on our side of the work see translation and document service prices.
On timing, the appointment itself is rarely the constraint. Assembling documents is: registry extracts, consents, corporate papers, a power of attorney from abroad, a translation. For a property purchase, allow more time than feels necessary, particularly where a bank or a party abroad is involved. The Notary Chamber of Georgia states that on the citizen's request the notary must provide an account setting out the cost of the service and the amount paid.
On a notarized transaction almost nothing that goes wrong goes wrong at the notary. It goes wrong in the two weeks before: a missing consent, an extract nobody pulled, a power of attorney from Berlin that does not mention the apartment, a buyer who cannot read the contract. Assembling that in one place, in the right languages, is the work.
You get the full list of what the notary and registry will require before a date is fixed, not on the morning of.
Written translation of the contract plus an interpreter at the act, so no party signs something they cannot read.
Powers of attorney checked or prepared for this specific transaction, with apostille and translation in the right order.
Our office is at 118 David Aghmashenebeli Avenue, Tbilisi. Contact us on +995 501 11 32 00 or on WhatsApp. For a transaction, include in your first message what is being transferred, how many parties there are, which languages they read, whether a bank is involved and whether anyone is outside Georgia. That is enough to produce a realistic document list and timeline in the first reply.
No. Many agreements are valid in simple written form. Certain transactions require notarial form under the law, and in other cases a bank, registry or counterparty requires it. Your specific case is confirmed by the notary.
Certifying signatures addresses who signed. Certifying a transaction is broader: identity, authority and the preconditions set by law are verified. Where notarial form is required, certified signatures will not substitute.
Typically identity documents for all parties, title documents, registry data including the cadastral code and a current extract, and any required consents. Corporate documents are needed where a company is a party.
Yes, normally with a valid passport. Where a party does not have command of the language of the act, an interpreter takes part and also signs, and a written translation of the contract is usually prepared.
Often yes, if the power of attorney clearly covers this transaction and the terms the representative may agree. A power that is too general is a frequent reason an appointment cannot proceed.
No. The notary verifies the legal preconditions, not the commercial merits. Have the terms drafted or reviewed before the appointment if they matter to you.
No, notarial certification and registration of a right are separate steps with separate procedures and fees. Agree explicitly who is handling registration and by when.
Each party must be identified, so in the usual case everyone attends with valid documents, or is represented under a power of attorney that covers the transaction. Coordinate availability early.
The remote format covers a defined set of acts and transactions generally follow the ordinary route. The position for a specific case is assessed by the notary in advance.
The notary fee is regulated and for transactions is commonly linked to the value and type of the act, with drafting, translation, interpreter, copies, apostille and registration additional. Describe the transaction for an estimate.
This page was updated on 13 September 2026 and prepared with reference to the rules in force in Georgia and official explanations. The main sources are the Civil Code of Georgia, the instruction on the procedure for performing notarial acts, the Law of Georgia on Notary and the answers of the Notary Chamber of Georgia on current topics.
Which transactions require notarial form, the applicable fees and the documents needed in a particular case are determined by legislation and by individual circumstances, and may change. This page is a general informational and organisational guide and does not constitute individual legal advice. For a transaction of significant value, independent legal advice is recommended in addition to the notarial procedure. The final decision on the notarial act, its form and its requirements is taken by the authorised notary.
Planning a purchase, gift, loan or division? Send the details and get the document list and timeline before you fix a date.
Call: +995 501 11 32 00