What is important when it comes to notary interpreting?

Whether it's buying property, setting up a company or making arrangements for inheritance – notarial deeds have considerable legal effect. The notarisation is only legally valid if all parties involved fully understand the content. Otherwise, linguistic misunderstandings can have serious consequences, such as liability issues, financial disadvantages or the legal contestation of a contract.

An experienced notary interpreter ensures that all declarations, instructions and contract contents are translated correctly and completely into the respective foreign language. This is particularly important for international clients who are familiar with different legal systems and may therefore have their own expectations regarding the wording of contracts.

AP Fachübersetzungen from Nuremberg provides qualified interpreters for notary appointments who specialise in legal and notarial interpreting and meet the highest standards of professional excellence, precision, neutrality and reliability.

In addition, an experienced interpreter ensures that communication between the notary and the client runs efficiently, that queries are translated immediately and that any ambiguities can be clarified directly. This reduces appointment extensions and thus costs, misunderstandings are avoided directly and potential legal risks are significantly reduced.

Why professional notary interpreting is indispensable

Notary appointments differ fundamentally from everyday conversations or general contract negotiations. The notary is legally obliged to read out the entire content of the deed and to ensure that all parties involved understand the implications of their statements. If this cannot be guaranteed due to language barriers, the deed cannot be notarised without an interpreter.

Notarial interpreting is particularly crucial when international parties are involved. When purchasing real estate, founding a company or entering into a marriage contract, any inaccurate translation can have significant legal and financial consequences. A professional notary interpreter ensures that all parties involved correctly understand the legal consequences and obligations, ask the notary any questions they may have and have the notary's answers translated by the interpreter, thus ensuring that the notarisation remains legally valid.

In addition, an experienced interpreter helps to convey complex content in an understandable way. Clients often ask additional questions that go far beyond the text of the document itself. A notary interpreter helps to clarify these questions in real time, thus supporting the notary in conducting the appointment efficiently and in a legally compliant manner.

Legal requirements for interpreters at the notary

The legal basis for the use of an interpreter is derived in particular from the Federal Code for Notaries (Bundesnotarordnung – BnotO) and the Notarisation Act (BeurkG). The notary is responsible for ensuring that the parties involved understand the entire content of the document linguistically. If this cannot be guaranteed, an interpreter must be called in.

In practice, this means:

• The notary interpreter is named in the notarisation protocol.
• The participation of the interpreter is an official part of the notarisation process.
• Many notaries require a generally sworn or publicly appointed interpreter, especially for complex or high-risk contracts.
• Like the parties, the notary interpreter also signs the notarised document after it has been read aloud, thereby confirming that they have correctly translated what has been said into the respective language. In doing so, the notary interpreter assumes a considerable legal responsibility.

An experienced notary interpreter must therefore be proficient in both language and law. Only in this way can they reliably meet the requirements of the law and the notary. In addition, the interpreter should have experience with different legal systems in order to be able to correctly translate German contract wording into English, Russian or other languages without any loss of meaning.

Sworn notary interpreters: neutrality and confidentiality

Neutrality is one of the key requirements when interpreting before a notary. Like the notary, the interpreter does not represent any party, does not give legal advice and does not evaluate content. Their task is solely to translate the content correctly, completely and accurately into the respective target language.

Confidentiality is equally important. Notarial proceedings often involve sensitive personal or financial information. A professional notary interpreter is therefore subject to a strict duty of confidentiality. AP Fachübersetzungen only employs qualified notary interpreters who are aware of this responsibility and implement it professionally.

In addition, intercultural understanding is often required when working with international clients. Different legal systems, contractual practices or cultural communication styles require the interpreter to respond flexibly and sensitively to specific circumstances during the notarial certification process, without losing their neutrality. An experienced notary interpreter also recognises when cultural misunderstandings could arise and ensures that all parties involved understand the same information.

Precision and legal terminology in notary interpreting

Notary interpreting requires the highest degree of linguistic accuracy and a sound knowledge of specialist legal terminology. Notarial language is quite formalistic, strictly defined and leaves no room for shifts in meaning. Terms such as conveyance, land charge, joint and several liability or usufruct are closely linked to the German legal system and cannot be translated in many languages in a way that is functionally equivalent. Their correct translation therefore requires in-depth legal expertise and comparative law skills.

Our experienced legal interpreters from Nuremberg are proficient in the relevant technical terms, recognise differences between national legal systems and convey the content precisely, comprehensibly and legally correctly. It is essential to reproduce even complex sentence structures and nested formulations completely, either simultaneously or consecutively, without shortening or simplifying the content. Professional notary interpreting plays a crucial role in avoiding misunderstandings, especially in international or multilingual notarisation.

Typical areas of application for notary interpreters

Real estate purchase and property law:

When buying or selling real estate, the purchase price, transfer of ownership, land charges and collateral agreements must be clearly understood. Professional notary interpreting is essential when purchasing real estate, especially for international buyers, in order to avoid legal disputes later on. In practice, it often happens that buyers do not correctly assess certain clauses in the purchase agreement, e.g. foreclosure, legal disclaimer or obligations arising from the land register. Here, the interpreter assists the notary in explaining the legal consequences precisely.

Company law and company formations:

International shareholders or investors often require a notary interpreter, e.g. when forming limited companies or start-ups, increasing capital, amending articles of association or passing shareholder resolutions. Accurate translation ensures that all parties involved correctly understand the legal consequences and obligations. A notary interpreter can also mediate between the parties if there are differing expectations or understandings of company law.

Marriage, family and inheritance law:

Marriage contracts, divorce settlements, wills or inheritance contracts concern highly sensitive areas and sometimes also regulate very personal matters of private life. In addition to linguistic precision, empathy is important here, as personal emotions, family relationships and financial interests are closely intertwined. An experienced notary interpreter ensures that all parties fully understand the legal consequences.

Powers of attorney and advance directives:

General or advance powers of attorney confer far-reaching authority. A professional notary interpreter ensures that the principal and the attorney fully understand the legal consequences. Incorrect translations can have serious consequences here, such as incorrect decision-making powers or disputes in an emergency.

International contracts and cross-border mandates:

Notarial deeds are increasingly being drawn up for parties from different countries. Our Nuremberg notary interpreters ensure that both language and legal barriers are successfully overcome. They ensure that international contracting parties receive the same information and that no party is disadvantaged due to language barriers.

In many cases, it also makes sense to have a certified specialist translation made for the relevant contract documents. This allows all parties involved to familiarise themselves with the content at their leisure and to understand the legal consequences in a well-founded manner – a valuable addition to notary interpreting.