What's the difference between lawyer's witness and notary office's notarization?

Lawyer's witness refers to the lawyer's non-litigation business activities in which a law firm accepts the entrustment or application of the parties and assigns lawyers with lawyer qualification or legal professional qualification and lawyer's practice certificate to carefully examine and prove the authenticity of relevant legal acts or legal facts in the name of the law firm and witness lawyers. The purpose is to witness the authenticity and legality of legal acts or legal facts. When witnessing the contract, it is necessary to find out the authenticity of the materials submitted by the parties, and ensure that the expression of intention is true and clear, and there is no fraud, coercion, taking advantage of others' danger and major misunderstanding. Lawyer's testimony must adhere to the principle of seeing with one's own eyes when legal facts or legal acts occur. Lawyers cannot witness what has happened or will happen. Notarization is an activity that notaries prove the authenticity and legality of civil legal acts, facts and documents with legal significance according to the application of natural persons, legal persons or other organizations and legal procedures. Notarization system is an integral part of the national judicial system and a judicial means to prevent disputes, safeguard the legal system and consolidate the legal order. The certifying activities of notarization institutions are different from the litigation activities of people's courts in hearing cases. The former is to identify the authenticity and legality of legal acts and documents and facts with legal significance before the occurrence of civil disputes, so as to prevent disputes and reduce litigation. It can't solve disputes for the parties; However, the litigation activities of the people's courts are carried out after the civil rights disputes occur and the parties sue, with the aim of making a ruling.

The difference between notarization and lawyer's witness

Comparing the characteristics of notarization and lawyer witness, we can find the main differences:

1, the actors are different, the former is a non-profit certification body, and the latter is a profit-making law firm.

2. The behavioral basis is different. The former is based on the provisions of the law and the application of the parties (both are indispensable), while the latter is based on the entrustment of the parties and the expression of will of both parties (both are indispensable);

3. The scope of application is different. The scope of application of the former is clearly defined by laws and regulations, while that of the latter is not clearly defined by laws and regulations. Generally speaking, anything that is not prohibited by laws and regulations can be witnessed.

4, the effect is different, although both are proof, but the former is stronger than the latter.

Summary: The above are the concepts of lawyer witness and notarization and the differences between them. Lawyer's witness and notarization have their own advantages. Lawyer's witness is flexible, but its scope of application is limited. Notarization is more effective than lawyer's witness. I suggest that you can choose different proof methods according to different situations.

Legal basis:

According to the provisions of China's Civil Code, there are five legal forms of wills, namely, notarized wills, self-written wills, written wills, recorded wills and oral wills. Among them, notarized will and lawyer's witness will are the most common, and lawyer's witness will is a kind of proxy will.

First, as far as the effect is concerned, if the testator has both a notarized will and a lawyer's witness, and their contents are contradictory, the final notarized will shall prevail. But if there is no notarized will, the last will shall prevail.

Second, in terms of service quality, the service of lawyers witnessing wills is generally better than that of notarizing wills. Notarization needs to take the drafted will to the notary office, which has no business and function to draft the will. Lawyers don't need to write wills in advance to witness it. Lawyers can use their professional knowledge and experience to help the parties draft wills, which can effectively avoid ambiguity and possible disputes in the future. And provide legal advice on wills, inheritance and other aspects to help the parties fully understand the inheritance law and related legal provisions;

Thirdly, as far as fees are concerned, the fees for lawyers to witness wills are generally higher than those for notarized wills, which is mainly determined by the quality of lawyers' services in law firms and the quality of legal professional services higher than notarized services.

Fourthly, as far as extended service is concerned, the service of notarization of wills is relatively simple, and lawyer's witness is more of an extended service of wills, which has humanized characteristics, such as estate planning and execution of wills.