We are happy to share our knowledge with you.

Better world

On the screen in front of you, you see our digital newsletter. The first of 2026. Volume 6. The newsletter is published four times a year. MAES Notarissen strives for continuity of its services by carefully developing a mutually fruitful, harmonious, and sustainable relationship with all its stakeholders. We want to add value by contributing to creating a better world. Being good to each other. That may sound somewhat lofty, but that noble aspiration ensures that we do our work with passion. Every single day.

Knowledge, expertise, experience and service

At MAES Notarissen, we sell knowledge, expertise, experience, and service. To maintain and continue developing this knowledge, expertise, experience, and service, we undergo ongoing training. All year round. In addition, we read our professional literature. Through digital knowledge systems such as InView, we have access to countless sources and titles, publications, laws, rulings, alerts, thematic dossiers, and more. We have access to open-source databases containing more than 15,000 updated templates. Partly due to this, we are able to produce high-quality work quickly, uniformly, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

Free notarial tips & tricks and sharing of current developments

Many of our clients regularly let us know that they appreciate being actively informed by us about notarial tips and tricks or current developments that might be of importance to them. Both professionally and personally. In the fields of personal and family law, corporate law, and real estate. They want to know how we can help them. With their home and mortgage. Their family and relationship. Or with their business. We listen carefully to our clients. To everything they have to tell us.

As a service, we would therefore like to share our knowledge, skills, and experience with our (potential) clients and other interested parties. We do this via our website—also available in English—social media, with over 100 YouTube videos recorded by us, and with this newsletter, for those who appreciate it. However, we also speak at events organized by ourselves or by others. And we do not hesitate to express our opinion through appropriate media channels.

Eid al-Fitr, Passover and fasting

The Muslims among us have only just finished Ramadan (رمضان) and Eid al-Fitr (عید الفطر). And now Easter is beckoning.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and the holy month of fasting. Worldwide, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations from sunrise (fajr) to sunset (maghrib) as a sign of devotion, self-control, and reflection. The Feast of Breaking the Fast, in Arabic Eid al-Fitr, literally means "feast of breaking the fast".

Easter is an important festival of Christianity. It is a time to slow down and live more consciously. Christians celebrate that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For Christians, Easter means that love is stronger than violence and that life does not end with suffering or death. Even those who know little about the faith can recognize the message: after dark times, something new can grow. Easter invites us to believe in change, forgiveness, and a fresh start. It is a celebration that says: no matter how hard life sometimes is, hope remains possible.

In the Catholic tradition, Lent is a period of forty days leading up to Easter. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until just before Easter. Fasting is consciously taking a step back for a moment. Temporarily doing less of, or using less of, things that are normally taken for granted: eating and drinking, but also leaving your car at home, looking at your phone less, or planning your life a little less. By letting something go, space is created to feel anew what is important.

A good way of fasting touches various facets of life. It helps you take better care of yourself and reflect on what you truly need. It can deepen your attention to other people, as you gain a keener eye for their stories and needs. Fasting also makes us more aware of the world in which we live. A world currently characterized by fierce wars and aggression in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, by scarcity (from food to oil, from housing to energy), and by climate change. This also implies that fasting does not stop at focusing on yourself, but also sets you in motion for others: for people who could use support, attention, or help, both near and far. In the Christian tradition, this path of simplicity and attention to others ultimately points to something greater than yourself: the realization that life is more than performing and consuming. That it matters to be "Good to Each Other."

There are traditions at Easter too. The Easter bread is cut, we light Easter bonfires, and the Maeshaes comes by. Often with a basket full of painted eggs. Eggs are a symbol of new life. Just like spring. The Maeshaes has also visited our office. We hoisted him/her/it onto the pedestal, and in the photo above, he looks at you cheerfully in his Easter best.

Peak activity in the notary profession and taking a breather

Unbelievably hard work was done at our office during the first quarter of this year. By all members of our dream team. Without exception. The notarial profession remains exceptionally busy. We ourselves have just completed the busiest first quarter in our firm's history. At other firms, waiting times are unacceptably long. At our firm, however, you are seen immediately, even though we can handle significantly more files than most of our esteemed colleagues. We can work faster and more cost-effectively because we invested heavily in automation in a timely manner and have our work processes perfectly in order. In doing so, we take responsibility first and foremost for the job satisfaction of our loyal and well-trained employees. They have an average of 20 years of experience in the notarial profession. Consequently, they are approached almost weekly—shamelessly—by headhunters and understaffed "colleague" notarial firms from Westland, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Maassluis, Maasland, Spijkenisse, and Tilburg with a (rather unattractive) offer. Apparently, not every notary office and not every notary has the reciprocal "Doing Good for Each Other" ingrained in their DNA.

We therefore gladly use the Easter break to reflect and take a good breather, so that afterwards—a new spring, a new sound—we can once again go that extra mile for our clients with renewed vigor, impeccable dedication, and integrity.

Happy MAESen

I wish the fellow notaries desperately searching for staff plenty of personnel, and you a cheerful—or, if you prefer, a blissful—MAESen, or simply a few pleasant days off, together with those who matter to you. And of course, much reading pleasure with this newsletter.

GHHJ (Geert) Janssen MRE MBA
notary

Leasehold policy: lessons for homeowners and investors

Thanks to our expertise, experience, and competitive pricing, we assist a great many leaseholders in the municipalities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Schiedam, and Vlaardingen with the transition from continuous leasehold to perpetual leasehold.
If you have received an offer from your municipality, please designate us as the notary to handle the deed of conversion/reissue. We would be happy to send you a no-obligation agreement in advance, in which we describe the desired service, our approach, and the terms of our services. Through our approach, we bring you peace of mind, reliability, and security, and handle everything for you impeccably and cost-effectively.

We wrote an article about leasehold policy that previously appeared in Het Ondernemersbelang.

Read our article that appeared in Het Ondernemersbelang here.

Not all notaries are the same.

Not all notaries are created equal. A good notary assists you impeccably, with dedication and integrity. With your home and mortgage. Your family and relationship. Or with your business. But quality, speed, service, and price vary considerably among notaries. Our employees already knew that. Our clients know it by now too. On average, they give us a solid 9.

Something for everyone

Look. If you can't or don't want to cook yourself and you need something else, you can order from the nearest snack bar, but you can also travel to a three-star restaurant.

A greasy snack, or a soggy meal, isn't very healthy, but it is affordable and easy to order via a delivery app. The delivery person might be a bit later than hoped, and the fries might be cold and soggy by now, but you have eaten and drunk affordably without having to get off the couch.

A three-star restaurant like that is a great experience, though time-consuming and usually a very expensive affair. No heartburn here, but a hefty hangover nonetheless. If it’s not from the Grand Crus, then it’s from the l'addition that was served to you.

Between the extremes outlined, a great deal is conceivable. There is something for everyone. It is no different with notaries. There is plenty to choose from. So choose what suits you best. Do you want a price-cutter with all the associated risks? Or will you simply go back to that sleepy firm that disappointed you a bit last time? Or do you desire quality, speed, and service? For a decent price. Look. Compare. Choose. Just be careful not to compare apples and oranges.

Read here what we can offer you.

Home division: opportunities and pitfalls for real estate entrepreneurs

Home division is increasingly cited as a smart and relatively quick way to tackle the housing shortage. The Ministry of Housing sees great opportunities in making better use of the existing housing stock and states that private individuals can make a substantial contribution by splitting larger homes into multiple independent living units. Potentially, this could create hundreds of thousands of additional homes, often in existing neighborhoods where amenities are already present. However, in practice, home division proves to be less straightforward than it appears on paper. Anyone delving into the legal and tax implications quickly discovers that serious pitfalls lurk behind this promising solution.

We protect property owners from those pitfalls. How? With tight control. Read about it in our article that previously appeared in Het Ondernemersbelang.


Read here how we can protect you from pitfalls.

Dream team: Casper Ooijevaar

We have a permanent, extensive, and loyal dream team of highly experienced employees, reinforced by a skilled flex pool. We know each other inside out. We understand each other with just a word. Together, we possess several centuries of experience in the notarial practice. We have an Advisory Board and our own ambassadors. Together, we are MAES Notaries.

Casper Stork

Mr. CCD (Casper) Ooijevaar (1991), aka "Storky", senior candidate notary, studied notarial law in Leiden, completed the professional training a few years later, and even later completed the specialization course in Corporate and Business Law at the Grotius Academy cum laude (how impressive!). In addition, he was also a board member of the Ring of Notaries and Candidate Notaries The Hague.

Casper leads our Corporate Law practice group with flair. Incorporations, amendments to articles of association, issuance, transfer or pledging of shares, certification, mergers, spin-offs and demergers, shareholders' agreements – to name just a few – are all right up his alley.

Casper previously worked for nearly a decade at Loyens & Loeff, a large interdisciplinary firm of tax advisors, lawyers, and notaries, both at the office in Rotterdam and the office in beautiful Amsterdam, working extensively with international clients. Although that firm brought him much, the entrepreneurship and dynamism of a firm like ours beckoned. It is easy to understand that Casper could not and did not want to resist this. With us, he still serves regional and international clients, at least at the same professional level as before, but now—due to our lower overhead—at a much friendlier hourly rate.

Casper lives with his wife and two young children in The Hague, where he also grew up and where he developed his love for football. Casper also runs. There is a good chance you will see him whizzing past at the CPC or perhaps even at the Rotterdam Marathon. Keep an eye out for the smart shirt—with the MAES logo—that he is wearing. As far as we are concerned, he qualifies for number 1, because what a king this sporty and communicative aspiring notary is.

Casper says...

I am a go-getter who, with a toolbox full of legal tools and experience, wants to get things done quickly and well. For entrepreneurs, for businesses, and for social organizations, associations, and foundations.
With my practice group, I guide entrepreneurs and companies from a legal perspective through the business lifecycle. From start-up, to growth, to exit. Local. Regional. National. International. Large and small. From multinational to SME. We are guided by risk management and return optimization. After all, entrepreneurs want to do business. With focus. Just going full throttle. Just like us. They don't want to be distracted by trivial matters. As long as everything is arranged properly and on time, and governance and compliance consistently stand up to scrutiny. So that no value-destroying hassle arises. I am happy to help them with that.

Would you like to get to know me and my team better? Do you want to know how we can help you? Call or email me. We can sit down together. We can do that at our office. Just so you know: I am an excellent barista!


Click here for Casper's contact details.

Notary offices in the Netherlands are under increasing pressure. Solutions to get the notarial profession back on track

NOS News
There was recently a segment on the NOS Eight O'Clock News about the busy schedules in the notary profession. It was stated that with many notaries, you won't be seen for another five months. We notice that here in the region as well. But with us, you will be seen immediately. We make time for you.

Extra mile

We very often hear that nowadays, with many notaries, it takes months before you can finally get an appointment with them. And once they do take your case into consideration, the progress of the file is frequently agonizingly slow. We consider that unacceptable. With us, you are attended to immediately. After all, we have invested heavily and on time in IT, digitalization, and AI. We manage—against the tide—to recruit and retain good people and to take responsibility for their job satisfaction. Consequently, we experience very little turnover. We have tightly organized and well-structured work processes. And if necessary, we continue working for our clients outside office hours, with love and dedication. Because we are happy to go the extra mile for you and yours. That is the reason why many clients—even from outside the region—know how to find us, sometimes even after having called high and low but receiving a flat refusal everywhere or having had a disappointing experience.

Many notary offices in the Netherlands are under increasing pressure. The number of executed notarial deeds is reaching record highs, while the total number of notaries has been declining for years. Between 2016 and 2026, the number of notaries fell from 1,283 to around 1,181, whereas more than two million deeds were executed in the past year — a historic record. This combination of more work and fewer people is resulting in longer waiting times, staff overload, and risks to the quality of service. At the same time, the complexity of deeds and the requirements of laws and regulations are increasing, such as the reporting of unusual transactions based on anti-money laundering rules. To prevent the notarial profession from grinding to a halt and access to legal certainty from being compromised, fundamental changes of course are necessary and possible.

Scaling up, digitalization, and improved HRM are three strategic opportunities for the notarial profession, which risks grinding to a halt if policies remain unchanged. If too many firms experience excessive waiting times and corresponding complaints, societal damage will result that rightly reflects on the entire profession. The current situation calls for investments from the notarial profession, collaboration, and an open attitude towards change.

Read our solution-oriented opinion below, which was previously published by Advocatie.


Look here for the solutions devised by notary Mr. Janssen.

Free tips & tricks. Come to the free inheritance law information meeting.

Come to the inheritance law information meeting hosted by MAES Notarissen on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 7:30 PM at our office, MaesHuys, Verploegh Chasséplein 1, 3134 BZ Vlaardingen. You will receive free tips & tricks from our inheritance law specialist, Mr. PJA (Hans) den Braven, to ensure your assets (such as equity in your home) remain within the family and do not disappear into the national treasury entirely unnecessarily.


Click here and sign up quickly. Spaces are limited.

Let us perform a free quick scan. Amend your articles of association on time due to the Corporate Governance and Supervision of Legal Entities Act (WBTR).

What exactly does the Corporate Governance and Supervision of Legal Entities Act (WBTR) regulate?

The WBTR (in effect since 1 July 2021) aims to:
Better governance and supervision at associations and foundations.
Preventing abuse of power.
Clarity regarding directors' liability and the failure of the board.
Why is July 1, 2026 an important date?

As of July 1, 2026, a director may not hold more votes than the rest of the board combined. If the articles of association state that one director has decisive power, such a provision will automatically lapse on July 1, 2026, and your articles of association will no longer be internally consistent. This can cause problems with members, boards, supervisory bodies, banks, grant providers, and notaries, but also with the Tax and Customs Administration when assessing whether a foundation's articles of association (still) meet the criteria for ANBI status. Amend the articles of association and include a provision for the absence or incapacity of the board. Consider: illness, death, resignation, or the complete resignation of the board.

What is the sensible thing to do now?

Have your articles of association—for any association or foundation—quickly checked by us for free regarding voting ratios within the board, the conflict of interest rule, and the absence/incapacity policy. Whether it concerns the "association for marathon-running boxers" or the "foundation for deepfake deceased dogs." And plan ahead. If your General Meeting is in May/June, preparations must start now. Amending the articles of association takes time. If you wait too long, you miss a whole year and could face trouble.


Read here why it is wise for us to check the articles of association of your foundation or association.

One director, one file, one timeline. The notary as director of the 'good' divorce.

Notary Geert Janssen MRE MBA of MAES Notarissen recently argued in *Advocatie* for a statutory role for the notary in amicable divorces. According to him, this could lead to a more efficient, transparent, and less error-prone process. With a single director and clear safeguards, the judge remains available in the event of conflict, while unnecessary proceedings, waiting times, and costs are avoided.
Recently, the KNB, the professional association of notaries, took the initiative to advocate for a statutory duty for notaries to formalize divorces when spouses separate by mutual agreement and the notary oversees the entire divorce process. A sensible initiative from which only winners can emerge. A divorce proceeding by mutual agreement is often still unnecessarily cumbersome in the Netherlands. Partners agree, and yet a formal route involving a lawyer and the court almost always follows.

It can be more efficient, more cost-effective, and faster.

Read here how it can be faster and cheaper.

Do I need a certificate of inheritance?

Frequently Asked Questions

Dividing the estate | Estate settlement

When someone dies, their assets and debts are inherited by their heirs. Who a person's heirs are is regulated by law, unless the deceased has made a will. In the latter case, the will determines who the heirs are. The heirs succeed the deceased together in all rights and obligations. This means that the heirs must also settle the estate together, unless an executor has been appointed by will or the so-called 'statutory distribution' applies.

Certificate of inheritance

A certificate of inheritance is a notarial deed containing:
who has passed away and when;
whether the deceased was married and, if so, in community of property or under a prenuptial agreement;
whether the deceased was previously married and whether that marriage was dissolved by divorce or by death;
who the children are and whether they are still alive and if not who their children are;
whether a will has been made and what its contents are;
who the heirs are, for which shares of the inheritance and whether they have accepted the inheritance;
whether one of the heirs has obtained a power of attorney and who is authorized to manage and dispose of the estate.
In this way, the heirs can prove their right to the inheritance. A certificate of inheritance can only be drawn up by a notary. We can take care of this for the heirs, even if the will was not drawn up by our office but by another notary.

Banks, the tax authorities, and the notary handling the transfer of the property require a certificate of inheritance.

You need a certificate of inheritance because, upon a death, banks will block accounts held in the name of their deceased account holder as soon as possible. If someone wishes to access that bank account, it must be adequately demonstrated to the bank that the person is indeed authorized to do so. Naturally, the bank will not rely on mere word-of-mouth. It will require a certificate of inheritance. The tax authorities will also request a certificate of inheritance for a tax refund regarding the estate, so that they know who is entitled to access the funds. Furthermore, if the deceased's home is sold, a certificate of inheritance is also required. After all, the notary handling the transfer of the property will need to establish the seller's authority to dispose of it. Often, there is a need for a certificate of inheritance very soon after the death in order to move forward.

Tip: Appoint someone as executor of your estate in your will so that action can be taken more quickly after your death! Stichting Executele MAES notarissen can also act as executor for you. We will then handle the entire settlement for you and your next of kin. Impeccable, dedicated, and with integrity. That provides peace of mind, reliable expertise, and certainty.

Read more about it here and take close note of the advice from the television program Radar.

Land Registry Notarial Language

Where does the boundary between your garden and your neighbor's run? And which property belongs to whom? The Land Registry records who holds which rights to all real estate (land and buildings) in the Netherlands.
The Kadaster is responsible for registering ownership rights of all real estate, including land and buildings, in the Netherlands. The statutory duties of the Kadaster include maintaining public registers and updating the Cadastre Basic Registration and the Topography Basic Registration. In addition, the Kadaster maintains the coordinate points in the landscape, known as the National Triangulation System. All registered data is accessible to everyone.

Above ground, the Land Registry registers information about homes, ships, aircraft, plots, and roads. Underground, they do this for cable and pipeline networks.

In addition to its registration role, the Kadaster also manages various facilities of other organizations, known as National Facilities. This includes, among others, the WOZ National Facility and the Basic Register of Addresses and Buildings (BAG), which records all addresses and buildings in the Netherlands, including information such as year of construction, surface area, intended use, and location on the map.

The data from the Land Registry supports private individuals, businesses, and (semi-)governmental organizations in making important decisions.

Disclaimer

Although the utmost care has been taken with the content of this newsletter, the content is not to be regarded as legal or notarial advice, and MAES Notarissen accepts no liability whatsoever for incompleteness or inaccuracy, nor for the consequences thereof.