Yes, they can. A notary prepares a certificate of inheritance (APD), which is an alternative to a court decision confirming inheritance acquisition and has the same legal power as a court decision. The APD becomes legally binding after the notary registers it in the Inheritance Register, immediately after preparing the document.

When can a certificate of inheritance be prepared by a notary?

• When there is no special testament (e.g., oral, military, or prepared in the face of imminent death).
• When all interested parties are personally present, as it's not possible to prepare a certificate of inheritance through a proxy - all persons participating in the procedure must appear in person at the notary's office. This means that heirs cannot appoint someone to represent them in this matter.

A notarial testament is one of the forms of preparing a will. It can also be written by hand, but having it prepared by a notary guarantees that all formalities will be observed, taking into account the testator's last will and all applicable legal regulations. A notarial testament is an official document and therefore has greater evidentiary value than a handwritten will, which is a private document. Invalidation of a notarial testament is much less likely.

A notary is obliged to refrain from preparing a testament if they have doubts about the legal capacity of the testator.

A testament prepared in the form of a notarial deed can contain a vindication legacy. Through a vindication legacy, the testator can determine that a designated person will acquire the subject of the legacy at the moment of opening the estate (at the moment of death). The subject of a vindication legacy can be an object identified as to its identity, a transferable property right, a business or agricultural farm, the establishment of usufruct or easement for the beneficiary, or the entire rights and obligations of a partner in a partnership.

After the notary drafts the testament according to the testator's last will, the notary reads it to the testator, who signs it after accepting its contents.

The notary registers the testament free of charge in the Notarial Register of Testaments if that is the testator's will. This is not mandatory, but after the testator's death, heirs can, with a copy of the testator's death certificate, check at any notary's office in the country whether the testator prepared a testament and can review its contents. The testament takes legal effect after death and, like all other forms of testaments, can be revoked at any time. Until their death, the testator can freely dispose of their assets. A testament is prepared only by one person; in the case of spouses, even if they appoint each other as heirs, two separate documents must be drawn up. Despite the preparation of a testament, inheritance proceedings must always be conducted, either in court or at a notary's office, to officially confirm the heirs' rights to the estate.

A marriage property agreement is a document regulating property matters between spouses.

This agreement (commonly called a prenuptial agreement) is an arrangement between future or current spouses that allows for a change in the statutory property community regime, which arises by law at the moment of marriage and includes most assets acquired after the wedding. The property agreement allows for adapting this regime to the individual needs of the spouses.

When can a marriage property agreement be concluded?

• Before the wedding – the agreement takes effect from the moment of marriage, so the marital property community does not arise.
• After the wedding – the property regime can be changed at any time, and even modified multiple times, e.g., returning to community property after a property separation agreement, though the return to community property does not retroactively affect items that were acquired by each spouse during the property separation.

Types:

1. Property separation agreement
   • Causes each spouse to maintain full property independence.
   • Each spouse manages their personal property, and no joint marital property is formed.
   • Liability for a spouse's debts applies only to their property.
2. Property separation with equalization of acquisitions
   • Each spouse has separate property during the marriage.
   • After its dissolution (e.g., divorce), the spouse who accumulated less can request equalization from the other spouse.
3. Agreement extending marital property community
   • Allows including in the marital property items that would normally belong to each spouse's personal property (e.g., property acquired before marriage, gifts, inheritances).
   • Facilitates asset management but may increase financial risk.
4. Agreement limiting marital property community
   • Allows excluding specific components from joint property, such as one spouse's business or real estate.
   • The remaining portion of the property is still subject to statutory joint ownership.

Yes, for a share transfer agreement to be valid, signatures must be certified by a notary. The presence of all parties to the agreement at the same time is not necessary, as the agreement takes effect when the last signature on the agreement is certified.

According to Article 1015 § 1 of the Civil Code, a declaration of acceptance or renunciation of inheritance can be submitted within six months from the day the heir learned about their title to inheritance.

This deadline (especially for close relatives) usually starts from the day of the testator's death, but not always, as sometimes we learn about the testator's death later than it occurred. In such a situation, the deadline for renouncing inheritance will be counted from the day we learned about the person's death.

In situations where someone from the extended family inherits (often this is a person who is considered a statutory heir because a member of the immediate family, that is a spouse, children, grandchildren, renounced the inheritance), the deadline for this person to renounce inheritance is counted from the day they learn that the person who would inherit before them renounced the inheritance.

If you do not renounce the inheritance within six months of learning about your title to inheritance, then according to Article 1015 §2 of the Civil Code, the inheritance is accepted with benefit of inventory. This means that, unlike accepting the inheritance outright (without limiting liability for inheritance debts), accepting the inheritance with benefit of inventory limits liability for inheritance debts to the value of the active estate, so the heir will not be liable for inheritance debts beyond the value of the inheritance received.

Renouncing inheritance on behalf of minor children

At a notary's office, you can also submit a declaration of renunciation of inheritance on behalf of minor children without the need to obtain permission from the guardianship court (this change was introduced by Article 641 § 31 of the Code of Civil Procedure).

The declaration is made by both parents, if they have parental authority, or by one parent with the consent of the other.

A declaration of renunciation of inheritance can apply to more than one child.