Notaries on duty
The Law on Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency (in force since 24.03.2020) provides that notary services are restricted and only "urgent" ones will be performed. It is important to note that the law does not explicitly define the term “urgent notarizations”, which will leave the notaries the option to decide which notarizations are “urgent” and which are not.
The Law on Measures and Actions during a State of Emergency requires a number of notaries on duty with a ratio of at least one notary per 50,000 inhabitants for the respective region. In accordance to the requirement, on 22.03.2020 the Notary Chamber of the Republic of Bulgaria announced a list of notaries who will provide services during the state of emergency. This list will be a subject of periodic updates and its current version may be found at the following adsress.
It is important to note that some of the notaries on duty have set specific requirements for their activity - appointments for notarial certificates; working hours on specific days of the week; time intervals, etc.
Obtaining documents for deals
Obtaining documents for notary deals (marital status certificates; valuation of properties; schemes from the cadaster, etc.) can be done electronically. For this purpose, registration should be made on the website of the institution concerned, which is free of charge.
Public authorities and institutions (Geodesy, cartography and cadaster agency; the municipalities, etc.) provide various opportunities for obtaining documents - signing and submitting applications with electronic signature; submission of documents by courier, etc.
Municipalities in Bulgaria provide the opportunity for different types of electronic services, detailed information for which can be found on their websites. Every institution has established rules for use of their services.
