[mk89]

> However, it begs the question, why do we need a notary?

The way I learnt it, until now, is the following:

the person you are contracting is there to perform a single specific task.

Applied to the specific context: "Notarvertrag", it means:

the notary is there to perform the notarisation (basically to read and write the contract), making legal whatever YOU are asking to do.

Any additional thing:

- you ask him/her

- you ask someone else beforehand (so yes, you need to pay an additional session for help)

And even then, you not always get what you wished for. And when s** happens, .... "that's life experience"....