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How do I change notaire in France if I am dissatisfied with service?
Reader is particularly interested to know how documents could be transferred
Reader Question: My notaire has retired and I am not completely satisfied with the new one appointed. If I change, can I easily get my archive documents transferred across to the new notaire?
There is nothing stopping you from changing to a new notaire although obviously this will be more complicated if you are in the middle of dealing with a legal procedure, such as an inheritance.
Clients are not bound to their notaires in any way, and it is always possible for them to switch, as notaire David Ambrosiano clarifies in this interview, shared on the website of the notaires’ profession.
If a problem arises specifically during work with the notaire, it is still possible to change notaire and the existing one will give any related documents to the client once they have been paid for the work completed to date.
However if you are in the middle of an action that involves several people (such as an inheritance, or a joint property purchase), all parties must agree to the change.
Apart from this, when it comes to the transfer of notes and files, there is no general process where the existing notaire must pass on any kept files to a new one.
You should have official copies of key documents already, and it is advised before switching notaires that you check that you have physical copies of all the paperwork that the notaire or their colleagues worked on and, if not, you request them.
The notaire will keep original documents such as deeds for their own records but may not have copies of additional documents and letters from third parties from work they did in the past.
If you switch notaries and your new notaire still needs documents from the former one, they will request them, but it is possible that your old notaire will invoice for this service.
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