AI literacy for notaries: prompting is now a must

The Dutch notarial profession is at a turning point. In the Netherlands, as in Belgium and Luxembourg, the civil-law notary is a public officer who drafts and executes deeds for property transfers, mortgages, wills and company formations. Alongside the more than 3,300 Dutch notaries and junior notaries, countless AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Copilot and Perplexity are entering notarial practice. With a further part of the EU AI Act taking effect on 2 February 2025, this development gains an extra dimension. While many notarial firms are still wrestling with ethical questions or hesitate to use AI tools, a crucial development risks being overlooked: from early 2025, concrete requirements apply to the AI literacy of professionals who work with AI systems. Instructing AI tools effectively (“prompting”) thus becomes not only a practical necessity but also a legal obligation for the modern notary, no less fundamental than drafting deeds, carrying out searches or advising clients.

A notary in Delft studying the EU AI Act, though this image was generated with AI.

Notarial expertise in the age of AI

This development asks for more than basic digital skills. It requires a considered combination of notarial expertise, systematic thinking and AI awareness. Notarial firms that invest now in solid AI training and AI workflows not only save significant time on standard work, but also build compliance with the new legislation. That lets them work more efficiently and spend more time on what truly needs human expertise: the notary’s duty to explain a deed to the parties (the Belehrung), understanding complex family relationships and strategic advice on property transactions. Notaries who do not make this transition in time risk both falling behind competitors and non-compliance with the EU AI Act.

AI literacy for notaries: the craft of notarial prompting

Prompting, giving instructions to AI models such as ChatGPT and Copilot, is an important part of AI literacy in notarial practice. The craft of prompting in a notary’s office is considerably more complex than many notaries realise. It requires a unique combination of notarial expertise, technical insight and communication skills, plus an understanding of the ethical and disciplinary requirements. A generic prompt such as “draft a deed” is useless, but a carefully worded instruction can produce valuable first drafts.

Take a prompt for a property transfer: “Analyse this purchase agreement for a draft deed of transfer, focusing on: 1) special provisions on apartment division and the owners’ association under the new 2024 model regulations, 2) easements and qualitative obligations from the title and previous deeds, 3) a check of registered mortgages and attachments based on the latest Land Registry (Kadaster) search, and 4) tax aspects of transfer tax, including the first-time buyer exemption.” A structured prompt like this produces a usable first draft that still needs a notary’s review, but speeds up the process considerably.

Practical applications and professional responsibility

The EU AI Act requires organisations to ensure, “to their best extent”, a sufficient level of AI literacy among staff who use AI systems. For notarial firms this is a concrete mandate to develop AI training programmes, introduce quality checks and draw up ethical guidelines. These requirements apply to all AI systems, with particular attention to the core values of the profession and to safeguarding legal certainty.

When drafting deeds, a well-formulated prompt can serve as the starting point for a first draft that brings in relevant legislation and model deeds. For legal research, notaries can instruct AI tools to analyse large volumes of case law and literature for specific developments. In due diligence, AI can help identify risks and particular points in documentation. These applications do not replace the notary’s judgement, but they enrich the workflow in ways that were previously unthinkable.

Reorganising notarial practice

Bringing AI into the modern notarial office, combined with the requirements of the EU AI Act, calls for a fundamental redesign of work processes. Notarial firms need to redesign their workflows around AI-supported processes, with legal certainty, quality checks and ethical considerations first. That starts with ongoing AI literacy training for notaries and their staff.

A new era for the notarial profession

The urgency for the notarial profession to embrace this development can hardly be overstated. Developments in AI systems follow each other at high speed, while the law sets concrete requirements for AI literacy. Firms that do not act now risk both an unbridgeable gap and possible sanctions under the EU AI Act.

The future of the notarial profession lies in integrating AI effectively and responsibly as a complement to notarial expertise, not as a replacement for it. The notary of the future needs to be not only legally skilled, but also AI-capable: able to tackle complex property and estate planning questions with a combination of human expertise and AI support.

This new reality calls for notaries who understand both the technical and ethical sides of AI and can apply that knowledge effectively in their daily practice. Firms that invest now in AI literacy and prompting skills are building not only compliance with the EU AI Act, but also their competitive position in a changing notarial landscape. In the modern notarial office, more than ever: those who prompt, stay.