Article 11 of the Saudi Notarization Law

This article sets out what the notary is competent to do. Under Article 1, a notary is a government employee with Sharia qualifications, appointed to the post of notary or head of notary office, and notarization is a set of procedures that ensure a right is established in a way that may be relied upon.

General competence: notarizing contracts and acknowledgments.

What they notarize in particular:

1. Divorce, khul' (divorce at the wife's request) and taking back a wife.
2. Settlement.
3. A marriage contract where one party is a Saudi and the other is not.
4. The parties' agreement on custody, maintenance or visitation.
5. Creating an endowment (waqf) and a will.
6. Partition of jointly owned property, including real estate, where there is no dispute over it; the paragraph also mentions the share of an endowment or will, a person lacking or with limited legal capacity, and an absent person.
7. The parties' acknowledgment of destroyed property for purposes of compensation where required.
8. The acknowledgment of a party who cannot read well.
9. The statement of the person concerned in social status cases, and attesting the witnesses' testimony on them.
10. Conveying real estate title deeds and confirmation-of-title (istihkam) deeds that have completed their Sharia and legal procedures, changing the use of an istihkam deed, and merging istihkam deeds and real estate title deeds issued by Notary Offices.

Paragraph (6) was amended by Royal Decree No. M/21 dated 26/1/1447 AH to its current wording.

Note that partition under paragraph (6) is conditional on there being no dispute over it. Article 12 also sets a general rule that a notary is not competent to notarize an acknowledgment or contract where one party is a person lacking or with limited legal capacity, or is absent, or is the administrator of an endowment or will, except in cases it lists, such as accepting a gift and a father's dealings in the property of his child who lacks or has limited legal capacity. The two articles should therefore be read together.

Anyone with a particular notarization matter, such as a divorce, a partition of an estate or a custody agreement, would do well to consult a lawyer specializing in personal status or real estate matters, depending on the matter.