Once a year, residents of Talsi region have the opportunity to visit a notary’s consultation free of charge. This year, the Day of Notaries was held on March 6, and this year’s theme was legal literacy of citizens and security of transactions in the digital age.
Notaries of the Kurzeme Regional Court Inguna Bakanauska and Indulis Šermukšnis were waiting for a consultation in Talso from 10:00 to 17:00. Consultations took place both in person and by phone. In total, notaries received 15 clients, but none of them were interested in the theme of Notary Day.
“For us, this day passed quite normally, because people came with the questions that are really relevant to them. Mostly there were questions about what to do with the property. This means that people have property if they are interested in it. And if there is property, then again problems arise with who and how to leave the property,” says Indulis Šermukšnis. “For the people of the New Year’s procession, that topic is not relevant, because they know those things. Older people do not use digital tools, they may even be afraid of it all. The audience for this topic would be the middle layer between these ages, who use these tools, but are not sure about the reasons why people are interested in things that are not related to the theme of the Day of Notaries, says I. Šermukšnis.
One consultation is not always enough
For some, one free visit was not enough, as they will have to come again. “Today there were also people who expressed their problem, we agreed on a solution and arranged the next meeting when they will come and conclude this matter. Because this is also the order of ordinary things, that at the beginning you come to the conversation, express the problem, then we find a solution. There are some who say: “Okay, but I’ll think about it, I’ll discuss it at home”, etc., but there are also those who immediately know the solution. Then we move forward, I am given a task to prepare the relevant document that is needed there, then they come, sign and have reached the result”, explains the notary.
Reckless signing of contracts
33% sign various contracts without even reading them. “It’s hard to say why people treat signing a contract lightly. I look at these things differently. If a person comes to me with a contract written by me or with a contract already written privately, I will always ask if he has read the contract and understood it. It’s okay that it’s not a contract I wrote. If a person has not read it, then I will be the one who will say that it is not right – not knowing what is written there, to trust and put your signature without delving into it,” says Inguna Bakanauska. She admits that people become more attentive just by coming to a notary for a consultation:
“We always warn that the notary is not responsible for private contracts that were not drawn up by a notary. We draw attention to the fact that they themselves are responsible for this. Sometimes people think that just coming to a notary is enough. It is a nationwide problem – the lack of human understanding of what a notary is responsible for in a specific situation and what action he performs. A person thinks that he will come to a notary and the notary will save him in any situation, but that is not the case at all.
The notary is responsible for the content of the contract only if it is a contract written by a notary. Our mission is to explain and help, the next step is in everyone’s hands – trust the notary or yourself.”
2024-03-22 09:28:32