---
id: KB-LE-005
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/legal/when-a-notary-is-needed-and-when-not
idioma: en
categoria: sector-legal
subcategoria: notariado
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CO-012, KB-LE-002]
citadoPor: [KB-LE-010]
---

# When a notary is needed and when not

_Electronic signature covers a lot, but not everything. Where the line is._

**Responde a:** can i sign this without a notary · which documents need a notarial deed · does electronic signature replace a notary · notarising an electronically signed contract

The question arrives as soon as someone gets used to signing without travelling: does this count too? The short answer is that most business-to-business contracts do, and a few do not — and the few that do not are fairly well defined.

## The line, broadly

| Type of document | Normally |
| --- | --- |
| Commercial contracts between companies | Electronic signature suffices |
| Employment agreements and amendments | Electronic signature suffices |
| Professional engagements and sign-offs | Electronic signature suffices |
| Acts the law subjects to a notarial deed | A notary is required, and electronic signature does not replace one |
| Acts requiring registration | Check: the formal requirement governs |

_This is indicative. What your specific document requires is stated by the rule governing it, not by a table._

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Where the law requires a form — a notarial deed, notarial intervention, registration — that form is a requirement, not a recommendation. No electronic signature, however advanced, replaces it, and signing that way an act which required it can leave it ineffective.

## What electronic signature does solve in those cases

Everything around the notarial act: the preliminary agreement, prior sign-offs, the documentation to be gathered beforehand, later amendments. That is usually ninety per cent of the paperwork, and where the time goes.

**En corto**

- Gathering documentation before the signing, with tracking.
- Signing everything ancillary without travel.
- And keeping what was signed with its date and evidence.

> [!WARNING]
> This article cannot tell you whether your specific document needs a notary. What it can do is prevent the reverse mistake: do not stop signing everything else electronically because of doubt about one.

> [!NOTE]
> If you have recurring doubts about one document type, ask your adviser once and write the answer down. It is a consultation that serves every later case.

**Can something signed electronically be notarised?**

That is a question for your notary; it depends on the document and how it was signed.

**Is it valid outside Spain?**

The European framework recognises electronic signatures across the EU; outside it depends on the country.

**Does a qualified signature replace a notary?**

No. They are different things covering different requirements.

## Ejemplos

**A company stops signing commercial contracts electronically over doubt about one that needed a notary.**

- Asks once which types require a formal deed
- Keeps signing the rest electronically

→ Recovers the saving on 95% of its documents without risking the 5% that genuinely required the form.

**Something that did not need it is taken to the notary.**

- Checks beforehand what that act requires

→ A formality and a cost are saved.

**Something that did require it is signed without a notary.**

- Checks with the adviser before signing

→ The act happens where it should.

**A document is missing on signing day.**

- Checks the list in advance

→ The appointment is not repeated.

**The notarial copy is kept in a drawer.**

- Captures and stores it in the file

→ It is found without going to the archive.

**A copy is requested years later.**

- Keeps the file with its date

→ The request is resolved without a new formality.