In a property conveyance, right from what we have called the preparatory phase before the definitive contract, the notary plays a rather delicate and important role: determining whether in fact the vendor is free to sell the asset and whether the purchaser in his turn may legitimately acquire it.
For example - to cite just a few of the more important aspects - the notary's tasks include certifying the personal identity of the parties (in other words that the vendor and hence the owner of that property is truly that vendor and owner); guaranteeing the vendor's full ownership and title and the disposability of the property, as well as that it is completely free of mortgages, foreclosures or any other form of restriction or limitation; checking that the vendor has been satisfied, having received the agreed amount from the purchaser and that, at the same time, the purchaser has received from the vendor the long-desired keys to the new home so as finally to be able to take possession of it; advising the purchaser (as well as the vendor, as will be explained ...) as to the best fiscal profile, suggesting the most suitable and advantageous solutions from an economic viewpoint in the particular situation.
These are only a few of the multiplicity of important tasks that the notary, in his dual role as independent professional and public official, is called upon to carry out when he is charged with the whole procedure of a property conveyance. This is a very long and laborious procedure in which the signing and settling of the definitive contract is only one phase, though certainly a central and emblematic phase: the notarised contract is the outer manifestation (the tip of the iceberg, one might say metaphorically!) of all the notary's work which is often not fully appreciated and which does not end with the preparation and signing of the contract, but continues, just as intensely, with the performance of other important tasks such as the registration of the transfer and especially the transcription of the contract.
The owner of an asset is not always able to sell it when and how he wishes and in the same way not all parties may freely purchase an asset: it may happen that there are restrictions or limitations which may subject the sale or purchase to the carrying out of a series of formalities.