Behind the scenes at the notary: “The stories you hear!”

Phara de Aguirre: “Three years ago I was in Werchter with a friend, and I started talking to Eva. (Pentillon, editor, editor)† I asked my friend: “How’s your notary doing?” – She knew Eva.

Eva Pentelon: I answered him with a word, Pharaoh: Behold, are you the wife of a notary? You don’t look like that. It’s an exciting life, isn’t it? ”

De Aguirre: “That’s how the idea began to look behind the scenes. Almost everyone calls a notary at least once in their life, but in fact you have no idea what happens in such a practice. ”

When my partner and I bought a house, it confirmed what I already suspected: you’re paying an insane amount of money for a job that any monkey in a hat could do too.

change (He laughs): “When I tell people what I’ve been doing for the past year, I often get the same answer: “Oh, notaries. Redundant, expensive and slow. Well, it’s not up to me to defend them, but I want to point out that they have to study for five years, and then Work an additional year as a notary and return for three years of training.Finally, they also have to pass a competitive exam.

“When Minister of Justice Van Queckenborn recently announced the notary price adjustment, I overheard a colleague on the radio asking: ‘Isn’t this profession passed from father to son? “So no, that system has been a thing of the past since 2000.”

Pentelon: “And this competitive test is very difficult, isn’t it?”

De Aguirre: “Only the best of the ninety may become candidates for civil law notaries. The notary we follow from Pelt is eager to associate with one of his employees, because he is drowning in work. But none of them have succeeded so far.”

Can the civil law notaries you follow talk only about specific issues?

De Aguirre: “No, they have professional secrecy. And when they tell stories from ages ago, they often change their clients’ names out of appreciation. Four of the 11 people we follow are retired, so they can speak more freely.”

Pentelon: “One of them was once a second notary of civil law in Antwerp. The stories you hear from such a person!”

De Aguirre: “She had tears in her eyes when she told about the time she had to prepare a will for a sentimental woman who wanted to arrange custody of her daughter. That woman barely had the strength to sign, but she was able to. She died the next day.”

Pentelon: “Our idea of ​​a documenting profession has changed for the better. I am sure it will be the same for viewers.”

Notaryone, Thursday, March 10, 9.35 p.m.

© Homo