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The Solicitor or Notaire

The French solitior, the notaire, is a highly qualified and respected individual:

• His authority is necessary to create valid contracts.
• His occupation is strictly regulated by the Ministry of Justice and his professional association the Chambre de Notaires.
• He is entitled to act (and usually does) for both parties in a property sale.
• He is obliged to explain impartially the implications of the clauses of contract.
• He is entitled to act as sales negotiator - taking on the role of the agent immobilier - for which he receives a commission.
• He is invariably employed to negotiate complex sales such as those that involve CO-ownership, or after death or divorce.
• He draws up the authentic act of sale, verifies the vendor's right to sell, checks planning regulations and notes existing charges against the property. Where these are greater than the sale price he must be sure that the creditors can be paid in some other way.
• He is responsible for collecting registration fees and passing them on to the appropriate authorities.