AI for notaries: what is allowed, what helps and what professional secrecy demands
Short answer
A Dutch notary is bound by Article 22 of the Notaries Act to secrecy about everything learned in office, and so is everyone working under the notary. A public AI service is a third party that may not see it. AI can still help with organising files, preparing deeds from the office’s templates and answering questions from its knowledge base, provided it runs in an environment that belongs to the office alone. The 2025 Dutch notarial guidance asks for exactly that.
Secrecy comes first
Article 22 of the Dutch Notaries Act imposes a duty of secrecy on the notary and on everyone working under the notary’s responsibility, covering everything learned in the exercise of the office, with a right to refuse testimony to match. Whoever pastes a draft deed, a will or a certificate of inheritance into a public AI service gives a third party access, without the client knowing or having a say. That is not a grey area. Notaries in other countries carry the same duty: in Germany under the Federal Notaries Code, in France under the Penal Code.
In 2025 the Royal Dutch Notarial Association published the AI weighing framework: two parts that set the core values of the office, impartiality, expertise and confidentiality, against the risks of AI and the measures against them. The thread throughout: AI must not take over the judgement, and client data stays under the office’s control. See also AI in law firms and professional secrecy: the same logic, a different statute.
Where AI helps a notary’s office
| Task | What AI does | What the notary or clerk does |
|---|---|---|
| File and intake | Sorts submitted documents, extracts parties, objects and dates and flags what is missing for the anti-money-laundering check | Assesses and performs the client due diligence |
| Draft deeds | Fills the office’s own template from the file and marks departures from the standard | Edits, checks legally and executes |
| Summarising | Summarises a long purchase agreement, articles of association or an estate file with page references | Forms the judgement |
| Knowledge base | Answers questions from the office’s own templates, earlier advice and professional rules, with sources | Checks the source when in doubt |
| Correspondence | Drafts a letter to client, estate agent or bank in plain language | Adjusts and sends |
See Summarising confidential documents with AI for what a summary with references requires.
Where the line is
- No public tools for file work. A business account with a US provider is still a third party that sees the content. Public material, such as a newsletter, is different.
- The deed is the notary’s. AI makes a draft; the notary settles, explains and executes. That is the core of the office and the guidance is firm on it.
- Anti-money-laundering and beneficial-owner data are extra sensitive. An AI environment that helps with them needs the same access per role and logging as the case system.
- AI literacy. Since February 2025 the AI Act asks every office to make sure staff know what they use and where it can go wrong. See AI literacy.
Choosing an AI environment for the office
- Where is the data? On a server of the office, or on a node that is for the office alone. Not in a shared service.
- Does the model learn from your files? The answer must be no, demonstrably. With open-weight models you run yourself, it is a given.
- Who sees what? Roles per employee, sources per role, an audit log per file.
- Which process first? Start with one: intake, draft deeds or the knowledge base. Measure the time saved and the errors, then extend.
- What does the processing agreement say? Secrecy under penalty, no sub-processors outside the EU, deletion at contract end.
How werqly fits in
werqly is built for organisations with a duty of secrecy. The node stands in the office’s building or in a locked rack in a Dutch datacentre, for that office alone; nothing goes to a model provider. werqly AI Control handles the roles and the audit log. For offices of up to fifty staff there is the office package with placement and management included. See AI for the legal sector.
Frequently asked questions
Questions on this topic
May a notary use ChatGPT?
For public material, yes. For anything under the duty of secrecy, no: a public AI service is a third party that sees the file. The Dutch notarial guidance asks for an environment in which the data stays under the office’s control.
Can AI draft a deed?
AI can produce a draft from the office’s own template and the file. The notary settles the deed, explains it and executes it; that remains the core of the office.
What is the Dutch AI weighing framework for notaries?
A 2025 framework from the Royal Dutch Notarial Association, in two parts, that sets the core values of the profession, impartiality, expertise and confidentiality, against the risks of AI and the measures against them.
Does AI literacy apply to a small office?
Yes. Article 4 of the AI Act has asked every organisation deploying AI, since February 2025, to take measures for the AI literacy of its staff, whatever its size. A short training per role, recorded, suffices for most offices.
Sources
- Dutch Notaries Act (Article 22, secrecy)
- KNB — Responsible use of AI in the notarial profession, part 1 (2025, Dutch)
- KNB — AI literacy (Dutch)
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and guidance change; check the sources listed or ask your lawyer or DPO if in doubt.