A great many matters stall waiting on a registration nobody applied for, or on a certificate that has gone out of date. A property still recorded in the name of someone who has died, a company whose management changed and was never registered, an entry with a name spelt wrong. None of these fix themselves, and all of them get more expensive with time.
These are acts a lawyer may perform under the law. This office is not a notary office. Where an act requires a notary, registry office, tax authority or court, the competent authority will be identified.
How the act works
- 01
A certificate of what is registered
The first step is to see what stands today. A certificate of the register in question, even an old one, shows where the history stopped and what is still to be entered.
- 02
Identifying what is missing
With the register set against reality, the missing act is identified: an entry nobody applied for, an endorsement, the correction of an error, or an out-of-date description.
- 03
Application to the registry
The application is filed with the competent registry office, with the documents and fees payable. Some acts can only be carried out after others, so the order matters.
- 04
The final certificate
Once the entry is made, an up-to-date certificate is obtained, and that is the document banks, buyers and other bodies will ask for.
What is covered
Civil registration
Birth, marriage and death certificates, endorsements, changes of name, and transcription of acts performed abroad.
Commercial registration
Registering the incorporation and the company’s later changes, and the permanent certificate banks and customers ask for.
Land registration
Acquisition, mortgage, usufruct and updating the description, including properties still recorded in the name of the deceased.
Corrections
Putting right errors and omissions in the register, and rebuilding the history where entries were never made.
Common questions
What to bring
The form and timing of each act depend on the documents, legal requirements and service availability.
- The certificate for the register in question, however old
- The property tax record or the company certificate, depending on the register
- Identification and tax number of whoever is applying
This page describes the practice in general terms. Every case turns on its own facts and on the stage it has reached, so nothing here replaces looking at the file itself.