The Polish Notarial Deed: What Foreign Property Buyers Need to Know

This guide is general legal information, not legal advice. How the rules apply depends on your individual circumstances, contracts, documents and deadlines. If you need advice or representation, the matter should be assessed by a qualified Polish lawyer. Twoja Sprawa helps you organise the documents for that assessment.

Key points

Who this guide is for

Contents

What the notarial deed is and why it's mandatory

Under the Polish Civil Code, both the contract obliging a party to transfer ownership of real estate and the contract actually transferring that ownership must be made in the form of a notarial deed, on pain of nullity. This applies to a preliminary contract (if it is meant to allow the buyer to sue for completion in court), a resale purchase contract, and a developer's contract on the primary market alike.

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In practice this means: no contract signed "on paper," by email, or even with a simply notarised signature transfers ownership of real estate in Poland. The only route is a notarial deed drawn up by a Polish notary. This rule applies identically to Polish citizens and to foreign buyers — the differences appear in the notary's extra duties toward a party who doesn't speak Polish, and in the possible requirement for a Ministry of Interior permit for a foreign buyer (covered in Buying Property in Poland Remotely from the UK).

Polish notary vs UK notary public — the key differences

This is one of the most common sources of confusion for UK-based buyers. In England and Wales, a notary public is typically a lawyer performing a narrow, additional certification function — most property transactions are run by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, and a notary public mainly appears for documents destined for use abroad.

In Poland, the notariusz plays a much broader role:

Feature Polish notary (notariusz) UK notary public
Status Public office holder, though operating a private practice (not a civil servant) Lawyer with an additional certification licence
Who runs the property transaction The notary drafts and executes the deed transferring ownership themselves — the transaction cannot happen without them A solicitor or conveyancer usually runs the whole transaction (conveyancing); the notary public mainly certifies documents for overseas use
Taxes On a resale purchase, the notary collects the civil law transactions tax (PCC, roughly equivalent to Stamp Duty Land Tax) as a matter of law and remits it to the tax office Not involved in transaction taxes
Land register filing On a developer's contract, the notary must automatically file the buyer's claim with the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta, broadly analogous to the HM Land Registry title register) Registration with HM Land Registry is a separate step, usually handled by a solicitor
Liability The notary carries professional and financial liability for the correctness of the notarial act Liability governed separately by UK professional rules

The practical takeaway: if in the UK you only ever used a notary public to certify a single document (say, a power of attorney for use abroad), don't map that experience directly onto a Polish transaction. In Poland it is the notary — not a separate lawyer running the deal — who is the central figure at completion. An estate agent or a lawyer advising a party is optional and additional in Poland, but the notary's presence at the deed itself is always mandatory.

A separate point worth understanding upfront, if you plan to act through a power of attorney, is that a Polish notary is not the same as a Polish consul in the UK. A consul can certify a signature or issue a copy of a document, but drawing up a full notarial deed (e.g. a power of attorney in notarial form) requires special authorisation from the Minister of Justice, and in practice is not a standard, readily available consular service. For how to prepare a power of attorney from the UK (notary public plus apostille), see Buying Property in Poland Remotely from the UK.

Step by step: what happens at the signing

  1. Draft preparation. The notary (usually based on data and documents provided by the parties) prepares a draft deed before the signing date. Ask to review the draft in advance, especially if a translator will be involved — this shortens the actual signing appointment.
  2. Identity and document checks. The notary verifies the parties' identity (ID card or passport), the legal status of the property (including the land and mortgage register), and — as of recent rules — whether a party's PESEL number appears on the register of restricted PESEL numbers; if it does, the notary must refuse to carry out the transaction.
  3. Reading the deed aloud. The notary reads out the full text of the deed in the presence of all parties (and the sworn translator, if a party does not speak Polish — see below).
  4. Questions and clarifications. This is the point to ask questions — once signed, the deed binds the parties on its stated terms.
  5. Signing. The deed is signed by all parties (in person, or through an attorney acting under a notarial power of attorney) and by the notary.
  6. Certified copies and next steps. The notary issues certified copies of the deed to the parties. On a developer's contract, the notary must automatically file the buyer's claim with the land register through the courts' electronic system. On a resale purchase, the notary typically also files the application to register the new owner, though the exact scope of this duty and the related court fees should be confirmed with the specific notary.

Notarial acts are performed in Polish. If you want the deed drawn up in parallel in English, the notary — at your request — may perform the act additionally in a foreign language, using their own documented fluency or the help of a sworn translator.

Sworn translators — when they're mandatory

This is one of the points that most often surprises UK-based buyers. If a party to the notarial act does not speak Polish, and no translation into a language they understand is attached to the act, the notary is obliged to translate the deed either personally (if they are documented as sufficiently fluent in that language) or with the help of a sworn translator (tłumacz przysięgły). In practice, for transactions involving UK nationals who don't speak Polish, having a sworn translator present is the standard — it is not a formality that can be waived "by agreement of the parties."

What this means in practice:

If you act through a power of attorney and are not personally present at the signing, the duty to provide a translator applies to your attorney (if they don't speak Polish) — not to you as the absent principal.

Notarial escrow as a settlement safeguard

On resale transactions — especially where the parties don't know each other and there is no additional safeguard such as a mortgage paid out directly to the seller — the notary may hold money (in Polish złoty or a foreign currency) on deposit in connection with the notarial act, for release to a specified person once agreed conditions are met. This is the depozyt notarialny, or notarial escrow.

In practice, notarial escrow is often used precisely to secure payment of the price: the buyer pays the price into escrow, and the notary releases it to the seller only once the conditions set out in the protocol are met — for example, once the buyer's ownership has been finally registered in the land register, or once a prior owner's mortgage charge has been removed. It's worth knowing, though, that notarial escrow is not the same thing as a bank escrow account familiar from UK practice — it is a separate mechanism regulated by the Polish Law on the Notarial Profession, based on a bank account operated by the notary for escrow purposes. The banking and accounting details of this mechanism, including how well the deposited funds are protected, should be confirmed directly with the notary's office handling your transaction.

If you're buying from the UK and planning a large wire transfer, it's worth asking the notary about notarial escrow — and its cost — as early as when you're setting a date for the signing. It can give you extra confidence, especially where part of the transaction is being handled remotely.

Documents you will need

The exact list depends on the type of transaction (resale vs. developer, cash vs. mortgage) and should be confirmed with the notary handling the deed, but typically includes:

Common risks and mistakes

  1. Assuming the notary will "run the transaction" like a UK solicitor. The Polish notary is responsible for the correctness of the deed itself, not for strategic advice during negotiations or an assessment of whether the deal is a good one — that's the role of a separate lawyer you engage on your own behalf.
  2. Not booking a sworn translator in advance. Without a translator, the notary cannot carry out the act with a party who doesn't speak Polish (unless the notary is personally fluent) — failing to book usually means the signing date has to be postponed.
  3. Signing without genuinely understanding the deed. The notary reading the deed aloud in Polish, even with oral interpretation, is not the same as calmly reading a draft in advance — ask for the draft and a written translation ahead of time.
  4. Leaving AML documentation until the last minute. Bank statements, documents from the sale of a previous property, or a gift deed in English are usually sufficient, but gathering and possibly translating them takes time — build in a margin before your planned signing date.
  5. Overlooking the Ministry of Interior permit requirement for foreign buyers. If the buyer is not a Polish citizen and doesn't fall within any of the statutory exemptions, a deed signed without the required permit is void by operation of law.
  6. Not discussing notarial escrow with an unfamiliar counterparty. For larger sums without a mortgage-linked safeguard, ask the notary about this option early, not on the day of signing.

If your situation differs from the scenarios above — for example, you're coordinating the deed with selling a UK property, or you're unsure about the Ministry of Interior permit — you can request a free initial assessment before you book a date with the notary.

Checklist

Frequently asked questions

Can I sign a notarial deed in Poland without speaking Polish? Yes, but the notary must then arrange translation — either personally, if they are fluent in your language, or with the help of a sworn translator. Without this safeguard, the notary should not carry out the act with a party who doesn't speak Polish, since that would undermine your right to understand what you're signing.

Does the sworn translator have to be physically present, or is a written translation enough? Practice can vary between notary offices, but the general rule is that the translator is present while the deed is read out and signed, rather than the notary simply relying on a written translation prepared in advance.

Is a Polish notary the same as a UK solicitor handling conveyancing? No. The Polish notary focuses on the correctness of the notarial act itself, collecting the PCC tax, and filing the land register application. They do not advise strategically during negotiations and are not a substitute for an independent lawyer you can additionally engage to review the contract or the property's legal status.

Can I choose "my own" notary, or does the seller or developer decide? In practice, the choice of notary usually rests with the buyer, since on a resale the buyer customarily bears the notary's fee (on a developer's contract, the fee is split equally between developer and buyer under Article 6(2) of the Developer Act) — in practice, though, the parties often agree on this jointly, especially under time pressure.

What happens if the deed is signed without a required Ministry of Interior permit for a foreign buyer? Acquisition of real estate by a foreigner in breach of the Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners (without the required permit) is void by operation of law. The court rules on the nullity at the request of specified administrative authorities — this is a serious transaction risk that must be ruled out before signing, not after.

Is notarial escrow mandatory? No — it's an optional mechanism the parties may choose to use. It's particularly useful when there's no other settlement safeguard (for example, no mortgage paid out directly to the seller), and the parties want extra certainty about the sequence: payment first, land register entry second.

Can I sign through a power of attorney if I live in the UK and don't want to travel to Poland? Yes, provided you arrange a power of attorney in notarial form in advance — for how to prepare one from the UK (notary public, apostille, translation), see the guide on buying property remotely from the UK, linked below.

Deadlines

The notarial deed itself doesn't have a "limitation period" as a one-off act, but keep the related deadlines in mind:

Related guides

Przeczytaj po polsku: Polski akt notarialny – co cudzoziemiec powinien wiedzieć przed zakupem

Sources

Information verified on: 11 July 2026.

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