Acceptance of Money and Securities into Deposit - The Notary as Neutral Holder Until the Deal Is Done

What the notarial deposit is

The Law on Notaries and the Civil Code allow a notary to accept money and securities into deposit from a debtor for transfer to a creditor, and from parties to a transaction for transfer to one of them on a condition; the notary holds the deposited funds on a dedicated deposit account at a bank, separate from the notary's own money and protected from the notary's creditors, keeps a record of the deposit in the register, notifies the person entitled, and pays out to that person when the conditions of the deposit are satisfied, or returns the deposit to the depositor when they fail or when the depositor is entitled to withdraw. The deposit performs, for the debtor, the payment: a debt paid into notarial deposit under the conditions the law allows is discharged from the moment of deposit, with the risk and the interest passing accordingly. For the parties to a transaction, the deposit is escrow: neither depends on the other's honesty, because the money sits with a public officer bound to release it only as agreed.

Closing a property deal through the deposit

The typical use is the sale of an apartment or a house, especially where one party is foreign and cannot easily verify the other, or where the buyer is financing the purchase and the lender wants certainty. The sequence is: the parties certify the sale deed, or sign the contract, with a clause that the price is paid into the notary's deposit; the buyer transfers the price to the deposit account and the notary confirms receipt to both parties; the deed is submitted to the Public Registry and title is registered in the buyer's name; on presentation of the extract showing the buyer as owner, free of encumbrances other than those agreed, the notary releases the price to the seller, or, if registration fails within the agreed period, returns it to the buyer. Variants cover the discharge of an existing mortgage from the deposit before release to the seller, the retention of part of the price against defects or arrears, staged releases on stages of a construction contract, and deposits by developers' buyers pending completion; the deposit agreement, which we draft bilingually, sets each condition, the documents that prove it, the period, and what happens on failure.

Paying a creditor who is absent, unknown, disputed or unwilling

The Civil Code lets a debtor perform by depositing with a notary where the creditor is absent from the place of performance, where the creditor's identity or entitlement is uncertain (heirs in dispute, an assignment contested), where the creditor lacks capacity and has no representative, or where the creditor refuses to accept performance or to give a receipt; the deposit discharges the debt, and the notary notifies the creditor and pays out on proof of entitlement. Georgian and foreign debtors use this to close loans whose lenders have disappeared, to pay rent to landlords who refuse it during a dispute, to discharge sums owed to estates before the heirs are certified, to pay contract prices to counterparties who will not sign a release, and to deposit sums a court or a contract orders to be secured. The depositor obtains the notary's certificate of deposit, which is the proof of payment before any court or authority.

Securities, documents and other deposits

Beyond money, the notary accepts securities - shares, bonds, certificates - into deposit for transfer on a condition, which is used in share sales where the transfer is registered on payment and in pledges; and Georgian notaries also accept documents for safekeeping and deposit, such as wills, originals of contracts and title documents, which parties want held by a neutral officer during a transaction or a dispute. Deposits ordered by a court, an arbitral tribunal or a contract as security for a claim are made in the same way, with the release conditions taken from the order or the contract. In every case the notary's register records what was deposited, by whom, for whom and on what condition, and the deposit is verifiable by the parties and by any authority.

Foreign parties, currencies and banks

Foreign buyers and sellers of Georgian property, foreign lenders and foreign shareholders use the deposit precisely because they are far away and unfamiliar with the counterparty; the deposit agreement is drafted bilingually, the interpreter attends where a party signs at the notary, and the notary's confirmations of receipt and release are translated for the foreign party's bank and records. The deposit account is held in lari and, where the bank offers it, in foreign currency; parties agree the currency of deposit and release and the treatment of exchange differences and bank charges in the agreement. Transfers into the deposit account from abroad pass through the Georgian bank's compliance checks like any inbound transfer, and the foreign party's source-of-funds documents are translated for the bank in advance so that the deposit is credited without delay; releases abroad are made by the notary's transfer to the account the agreement names.

What to bring, fees and timing

Bring the identity documents of the parties, the underlying agreement (the sale deed, loan, share purchase or the document establishing the debt) or its terms, the details of the beneficiary and of the accounts for release and return, and the conditions of release and the documents that will prove them; send these in advance on WhatsApp, Telegram or email and we draft the deposit agreement, coordinate with the bank on the account and the currency, and set up the deposit at Agmashenebeli 117 in the same appointment as the transaction it secures. Fees follow the official tariff for the acceptance of money and securities into deposit, which is calculated with reference to the sum deposited, plus the bank's charges; the drafting, translation and interpreter are quoted separately in advance, and the parties agree who bears them. The deposit is credited when the bank confirms receipt, and released on the business day the condition is proved.

Frequently asked questions

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