Becoming a notary in Germany: two forms of notary, two routes into office

First question: which form of notary applies in your region?

§ 3 of the Bundesnotarordnung recognises two forms. Full-time notaries, often called „Nur-Notar:innen“ (notaries only), practise exclusively as notaries and are appointed for life up to the age limit. Anwaltsnotar:innen remain lawyers at the same time and are appointed for as long as they are members of the Rechtsanwaltskammer (bar association). Which form applies in a local court district follows historically from how notarisations were carried out there on 1 April 1961. So you cannot choose: you have to take the route provided for at the official seat you want.

Where each form applies is shown by the Bundesnotarkammer's notary search on notar.de. As a guide: Bavaria, Hamburg, Saxony and Brandenburg have full-time notaries; Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein have Anwaltsnotar:innen; North Rhine-Westphalia has both forms. Baden-Württemberg has had full-time notaries since 2018, and in the Stuttgart Oberlandesgericht district also Anwaltsnotar:innen. Check your specific district before planning your career.

The route into the full-time notariat

The basic requirement is the qualification for judicial office, i.e. both state exams (§ 5 BNotO), plus personal and professional suitability. Nobody can be appointed for the first time if they have turned 60 by the end of the application period. The actual training route is the traineeship as a Notarassessor:in: a public-law service relationship with the state (§ 7 BNotO), in which you are assigned to various notaries, stand in for them and administer vacant notary posts.

• Duration: only those who have completed three years of traineeship in the state of application by the end of the application period should be appointed; the state justice administration can move the reference date to the appointment (§ 5a BNotO).
• Selection: where there are several suitable applicants, suitability and exam results decide (§ 6 BNotO). Admission to the traineeship is therefore already a selection procedure.
• Pay: in Bavaria, the Palatinate and the eastern German states, the Notarkasse in Munich or the Ländernotarkasse in Leipzig pays the trainees' salaries (§ 113 BNotO).

The route into the Anwaltsnotariat

In the Anwaltsnotariat you enter office from the legal profession. § 5b BNotO requires at least five years of not insignificant work as a lawyer for various clients, including at least two years without interruption in the intended official area. Until the 2026 reform it was three years. How to build up the law firm itself is described in the post Setting up a law firm in Germany.

Selection among several applicants follows a score made up 60 per cent of the specialist exam result and 40 per cent of the second state exam (§ 6 BNotO). The examination office is at the Bundesnotarkammer (Federal Chamber of Notaries). If you know early on that the notarial office is a goal, do not wait years to take the specialist exam; take it as soon as you can prepare for it alongside starting your law firm.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

The Anwaltsnotariat has a recruitment problem: according to the Bundesnotarkammer's statistics, the number of Anwaltsnotar:innen fell from 4,834 to 4,499 within two years. The legislator has responded, prompted partly by the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court).

• Age limit: on 23 September 2025 (1 BvR 1796/23), the Bundesverfassungsgericht declared the rigid age limit of 70 for Anwaltsnotar:innen incompatible with occupational freedom. Since 1 July 2026 the limit remains 70 (§ 48a BNotO), but if there are too few applicants it can be extended twice by three years each (§§ 48b, 48c BNotO).
• Local waiting period: two years of work as a lawyer in the intended official area now suffice instead of three (§ 5b BNotO).
• Electronic in-person notarisation: since 29 December 2025, deeds can be drawn up electronically in the presence of the parties. There is no duty to offer this.
• Costs: with the KostBRÄG 2025, the fee tables of the GNotKG (Court and Notary Costs Act) were revised with effect from 1 June 2025.

Advertisement and appointment

Your Amtsbereich (official area) is the district of the local court (Amtsgericht) in which your official seat lies, and your Amtsbezirk (official district) is the district of the Oberlandesgericht (higher regional court) (§§ 10a, 11 BNotO). Both determine where you regularly work and also matter for your future website, for example when choosing a domain.

Insurance, partnerships and levies

Professional indemnity insurance must cover at least €500,000 per claim; the annual maximum may be capped at twice that amount (§ 19a BNotO). In addition, the Notarkammern take out group and fidelity insurance for their members (§ 67 para. 3 no. 3 BNotO).

• Joint practice: notaries may only join with notaries at the same official seat (§ 9 para. 1 BNotO). Anwaltsnotar:innen may also work with lawyers, patent attorneys, tax advisers, auditors and sworn accountants (vereidigte Buchprüfer), but not for their notarial work (§ 9 para. 2 BNotO). There is no notary GmbH.
• Multi-location partnership: if an Anwaltsnotarin belongs to a partnership with several locations, she uses her official title only with the addition „Amtssitz“ (official seat) and the place (§ 29 para. 3 BNotO).
• Contributions: the Notarkammer levies contributions (§ 73 BNotO). In the areas of the Notarkasse and the Ländernotarkasse, levies based on financial capacity are added; in return, the funds top up the income of small posts, for example (§ 113 BNotO).
• Not a trade: because the notarial office is not a trade (§ 2 BNotO), no trade registration is needed.

The first two years in office

Supervision lies with the president of the Landgericht (regional court), and above that with the Oberlandesgericht and the state justice administration (§ 92 BNotO). For newly appointed notaries, a first inspection of their office within the first two years is provided for (§ 93 BNotO). So set up your processes from the start in a way that will stand up to an inspection.

Tax and organisational questions that affect every firm are collected in the post Setting up a firm in Germany.

Website and findability after appointment

Anyone who wants a purchase contract, a will or a lasting power of attorney (Vorsorgevollmacht) notarised searches for „Notar“ and the town, or for „Notar Kosten Testament“ or „English-speaking notary Berlin“. A website is permitted for notaries, as long as it informs factually and does not advertise commercially (§ 29 para. 1 BNotO). Done well, it saves your team phone calls: data sheets for purchase contracts and company formations, notes on which documents to bring and an overview of the statutory costs. Put together the document lists for property purchases, GmbH formations and deaths in the family with the document checklist.

• Domain: no generic notary terms without an individualising addition; the place name alone only if it cannot refer to another notary in the official area (Bundesnotarkammer guideline recommendations, section VII no. 6)
• Separation in the Anwaltsnotariat: make it clear when you are acting as a lawyer and when as a notary
• Mandatory details: supervisory authority, Notarkammer and professional law, see Imprint for notaries in Germany
• Limits: no reviews, no Google Ads, no evaluative self-promotion, see Advertising for notaries in Germany

We create websites for notary's offices for a fixed price of €1,800 net, or €3,600 net with an editing system for your own updates. Which content has proved its worth on a firm website is shown in the post What belongs on a firm website.