If a document certified or issued by a notary has been lost or damaged

Different situations can arise in life, and sometimes we face unforeseen circumstances, such as losing a document or having it damaged. If you have lost documents confirming your ownership of immovable property, you should obtain duplicates of those documents.

Restoring lost title documents confirming ownership rights is an important procedure for every property owner. This applies to documents confirming rights to housing, non-residential property, land, property shares, and vehicles.

Documents confirming ownership rights:

1. Agreements: sale and purchase agreements, exchange agreements, gift agreements, lifetime maintenance agreements, lease agreements, etc.
2. Certificates: certificates of ownership, certificates of ownership of a share in the spouses’ joint property, certificates of inheritance, and certificates of acquisition of property at auction.
3. Court decisions: decisions recognising ownership rights or establishing the legal fact of ownership.
4. State acts: state acts concerning land and other documents issued by privatisation authorities.

All these documents can be restored by obtaining a duplicate.

Important! A duplicate is a reissued document that has the same legal force as the original. Once a duplicate has been issued, the original document loses its legal force.

If a document certified or issued by a notary has been lost or damaged

If a document certified or issued by a notary has been lost or damaged, the notary issues a duplicate of the lost or damaged document upon a written application from a party to the agreement or their representative.

Therefore, if property was acquired under an agreement on the transfer of immovable property, such as a sale and purchase agreement or gift agreement, or was inherited, an application for a duplicate must be submitted to the notary who certified or issued the notarial document.

Please note! A duplicate is issued at the place where the document is stored — by the same notary who certified or issued the document, or by the state notarial archive to which the document was transferred.

To obtain a duplicate, the following documents must be submitted to the notary:

1. an identity document, such as a passport or a temporary or permanent residence permit;
2. a certificate confirming the taxpayer registration number (TIN);
3. if the applicant’s representative applies for the duplicate, they must submit a notarised power of attorney confirming their authority to act, with a clear indication that the representative is authorised to represent the person before notarial authorities in matters relating to obtaining duplicate documents.

Content of the duplicate

► reproduction of the entire text of the document;

► a note confirming that the duplicate has the same legal force as the original;

► the notary’s certification inscription.

Issuing duplicate documents to the deceased person’s heirs

Duplicates of documents certified or issued by a notary may be issued upon a written application from the heirs of persons on whose instructions or in relation to whom the notarial act was performed, as well as to the executor of the will and at the request of the notary who opened the inheritance case. In this case, in addition to the death certificate of the relevant person, documents confirming family relations or the executor’s certificate must be submitted to the notary.

A duplicate of a will may be issued to the heirs named in the will after they submit the testator’s death certificate.

If the notary has ceased practising

If the notary has ceased their notarial practice, an application should be submitted to the state notarial archive to which the notary’s archive and notarial records were transferred for safekeeping. Information about the location of the notary’s archive can be obtained by contacting the relevant territorial body of the Ministry of Justice.

The duplicate must contain the entire text of the certified or issued document, the original of which is considered to have lost its legal force. The duplicate must include a note confirming that it has the same legal force as the original and must bear the relevant certification inscription.

If it is impossible to obtain duplicates of lost or damaged documents

In this case, the property owner may file a claim for recognition of ownership rights if their right is disputed or not recognised, as well as in the event of the loss of documents confirming ownership rights. In other words, the person may apply to the court with a claim for recognition of ownership rights to the immovable property or for the establishment of a legal fact.

The loss or damage of a notarial document does not mean the loss of your rights. The law provides a mechanism for obtaining a duplicate that has the same legal force as the original. The main step is to establish where the notarial archive is stored and apply to the relevant notary or state notarial archive for the issuance of a duplicate.

If you need advice or assistance on matters related to the granting of a pension, you can book an online consultation with a lawyer via this link.

This informational material was created within a project implemented by the Charitable Organisation Charitable Foundation “Caritas Kharkiv” in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), with financial support from the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Charitable Organisation Charitable Foundation “Caritas Kharkiv” and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or DRC.