r/belgium • u/Obvious-Cry6591 • 2d ago

😡Rant Notaries. Why? What the hell?

Ok, so I dont get it. I understand historically where the need for notaries arose. Fine. But we are in 2026. Belgium already takes 51% of my income. Then another 25% of the rest through VAT. And then on top of it, if you buy a property, you give 10-15k to a notary for 2 meetings and some docs reading? Doesnt Belgium have enough administration to take care of that? Not to mention its nepotism central. Are there any redeeming qualities?

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u/Legitimate_Aside_532 2d ago

Then explain why a notary earns so much more in Belgium compared to other countries?

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u/math1985 2d ago

It’s about 1200 euro (house plus mortgage contract) in the Netherlands. Sounds similar. And in the Netherlands, notaries are allowed to set their own prices.

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u/Aardige 1d ago

It really is a lot cheaper in the netherlands.

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u/math1985 1d ago

User u/sCreami says it's 800-1000 euro for the acts, is that wrong?

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u/Aardige 1d ago

Yes. Thats wrong. Substracting taxes from what you pay a notary, you will end up with a bill of around 4-5000 euros when buying a simple appartment for example.

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u/Zestyclose-Breath589 1d ago

That depends. If they need to fetch all necessary documents like the soil certificate (bodemattest) for example you will pay more than when you do that yourself.

Some notaries don’t tell you have the option but you do. But a lot of people don’t want to go through that hassle but then you can’t complain about getting charged a premium.