Certification of Signatures and Copies

The certification of a signature is the public certification of the fact that the signature stems from a specific person and that the signatory has personally executed or acknowledged his signature before the notary. The notary thus confirms that a signature was personally executed in his presence or that an already executed signature was recognised as own signature (confirmation of identity). Various legal transactions require official certification. For example, all applications for registration in the commercial register (e.g. formation of German corporations and commercial partnerships, changes in the management or executive board, appointment of authorised signatories, changes in the articles of association, transformation and dissolution of companies, etc.) have to be certified. For entries in the land register, the land registry also requires that registration approvals or the other declarations required for the entry are evidenced by public documents or officially certified documents.

When certifying copies, notaries certify the conformity of the copy with the document presented. The document presented may be an original, an official copy or a simple or certified copy. Such certifications are often requested by authorities and employers.