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Stages of court Litigation

Stages of court litigation in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Legislation has a several levels of court litigation. Basically yhe court litigation in Bulgaria has been created and settled in four different instances (stages).

The first instance court litigation in Bulgaria

The first instance court litigation in Bulgaria involves the investigation and filling up the statement of claim. During the first stage of the litigation in Bulgaria, a lawyer starts the investigation of the factual basis of the claim and the legal theories of liability.

After the claim is filed together with all available written evidence, the defendant party in the litigation in Bulgaria shall be officially notified by the court and shall submit its position, also known as a “response”. Usually it denies the allegations, filed by the offender party and denies any liability for the claim. The judge shall schedule open court hearings for the litigation in Bulgaria where witnesses and experts appointed by the court may be questioned by the judge and the parties. Once the judge decides that all

For litigation in Bulgaria – contact us

facts on the case of the litigation in Bulgaria are clear, the parties present their final oral arguments, and the case is closed. The judge renders the decision in close chambers and officially notifies the parties on its content. The first court instance of the litigation in Bulgaria may take one to three years depending on the complexity of the dispute.

The second instance court litigation in Bulgaria

Within two weeks after the notification for the first instance court decision in the litigation in Bulgaria the parties are entitled to appeal it before the second instance court. Under certain conditions the panel of three judges may allow new written and oral evidence. This stage of court litigation in Bulgaria usually takes one and a half year.

The third (last) court instance litigation process

The third final stage of court litigation in Bulgaria is the cassation stage, which in contrast to the previous stages is not applicable to all cases. Both parties are entitled to file a cassation appeal, however, the Supreme Court of Cassation decides which cases will be heard depending on their subject matter and significance for the development of the law. The cassation decision of the litigation in Bulgaria is mandatory not only for the parties but also for the judges when deciding on similar cases. This stage of court litigation in Bulgaria usually takes one and a half year.

Execution stage of court litigation in Bulgaria

The fourth and last stage of the court litigation in Bulgaria is the execution of the final decision on the case. A writt of execution shall be issued by the court, then public and private bailiffs are vested with enforcement powers. In case the debtor does not pay voluntarily, the bailiff shall attach and sell its property (i.e. money in bank accounts, real estate assets, movables, etc.) until the final satisfaction of the creditor. Execution tends to be more successful if the creditor has been granted interim relief prior or during the court litigation stages securing its claim in advance.

January 7, 2019/by lawyer

Legal advices

Legal documents transfer of property

1. Property title documents – certifying the title of the property.

Most frequent documents of ownership:

• Title Deed, registered with the Registry Agency – title deed for purchase and sale, title deed for donation, title deed for exchange, notarized statement of ascertainment;

• Deed with registration records;

• Sales Agreement executed under the Ordinance on State-Owned Properties;

• Sales Agreement, executed under the Municipal Property Act and the State-Owned Public or Municipal Real Estate Act. If executed after 1 June 1996, this Agreement has to be registered with the Registry Office.

2. Property Tax Evaluation Certificate – issued by the local tax office at the property domicile. The Property Tax Evaluation Certificate has to contain an address identical to the address of the property as per the title deed, or in case of discrepancy, Certificate of Identity of Addresses has to be issued. The Property Tax Evaluation Certificate shall list all of property owners.

Property co-owners may not have any outstanding debts concerning the property (this means paying property tax and waste discharge fees), which shall be indicated in the Property Tax Evaluation Certificate.

3. Certificate of Marital Status of the seller(s), indicating the marital status of all owners as of the date of acquisition of the property. This certificate shall be issued by the Uniform System for Civil Registration and Administrative Services to Population department in the district of domicile of the owner.

4. Marriage Certificate of the seller, if applicable.

5. If the property is not acquired as marital property, it shall not be considered matrimonial property community (MPC); however, in case the address of the property is the address of registration of one of the spouses, a statement has to be filed, under article 26 of the Family Code, which shall evidence the respective spouse agrees to with the sale. This shall also apply for property acquired by inheritance, donation, and in general cases other than MPC.

6. If the property has any real rights registered, in order to execute the sale transaction, the user shall abandon all the real rights, established in their favour, by filing a waiver of the right to use the property. The waiver has to be signed in the presence of a Notary Public and shall be registered with the Notary Public’s file. In case the used is deceased, an excerpt of the Death Certificate shall be submitted.

7. In case the property is subject to partition – the document in question (contract, ruling), registered with the Registry Agency.

8. Plan of the plot, in case of transfer of land (land plot, yard or part of yard, where the property/apartment is built). It shall be issued by the technical service in the district of location of the property, and shall have a term of validity for 6 months.

9. In case the property has been received as inheritance – Certificate of Inheritance, Certificate of Death of the predecessor, Last Will and Testament.

10. In case the seller is divorced, the court ruling dissolving the marriage in divorce shall be presented.

11. Specific cases require different documents, which follow the property history and proves the title of ownership.

12. Certificate of Burdens for the property – to be issued by the Registry Agency, and including any and all ownership documents – from the date of the first Title Deed to the date of the last Title Deed, and in case of inheritance – a Certificate of Inheritance. In case the property includes land or shares of land, a plan of the property shall be enclosed as well.

13. In case the seller is unable to perform the formalities for a transaction personally, the seller shall have the lawful obligation to appoint another person to represent the Seller with a Power of Attorney. This Power of Attorney shall be notarized, and both the signatures affixed and the content of this Power of Attorney shall be certified. A declaration under article 25, paragraph 7 of the Notaries and Notary Practices Acts (NNPA) and a declaration under article 264, paragraph 1 of the Taxation and Social Security Code of Procedure (TSCCP) shall be issued.

14. An identity document, which confirms the identity of both the buyer and the seller (identity cards, certificates of good standing, and a decision of the competent body – in case the party under the transaction is a legal entity).

15. In case the transaction refers to transferring developed buildings – the respective documents issued by the builder/investor – building permits, architectural design and distribution of land, permit to use – Act Form 16, et al.

16. Other documents, according to the specifics of the transaction. Due to the diversity of documents possible, we recommend that the documents under this transaction be checked by a lawyer.

June 24, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Judicial division of property

Judicial split – When co-owners fail to understand how to divide their property voluntarily and turn their ideal parts into real, they can turn to the court. This way of termination of the co-ownership is settled as a particularly indisputable production, which takes place in two phases .

Any joint proprietor may file a claim for a division, which is always subject to the district court of the place of inheritance (in the case of a division of inheritance) or the location of the property (in the case of a split of a real estate). Where incapacity or abstention is involved in the partition, prior permission of the District Court is required.

Division by Court settlement. In any case of a court case (prior to the entry into force of the court decision on the distribution of the property), the judicial separation may end with a court settlement. The latter includes a contract between the parties for the distribution of properties and a definition by which the court approves the settlement if it does not contradict the requirements of the law and good morals.

A particular type of court settlement is the agreement of the spouses to divide their property upon divorce by mutual consent.

Judicial division of property

FEATURES OF THE JUDICIAL DIVISION ARE FOLLOWING:

– First phase of the judicial split of property

In the first phase of the partition the issues between who will be partitioned, which properties and what is the part of each ofthe partitioners are clarified .

The action for partition is not extinguished by prescription. The subject matter of a division may be all or part of the property, unless the law provides otherwise, or if it is incompatible with the nature or purpose of the property. If one of the co-owners does not take part in the division, it is entirely null and void.

The court decides by a decision on the admissibility of the division, which is subject to self-appeal, after its entry into force, a new hearing is scheduled and the division continues in its second phase.

At the request of some of the distributors, the court ruled on the issue of the temporary distribution of the use of the property until the end of the divestment and the sums that the users should pay to the others.

– Second phase of the judicial split of property

In the second phase of the division a real distribution of the shares admitted to partition is made between the parties that are recognized as co-owners and according to the established shares with the court decision of the first phase of the admission of the division. Whenever possible, each of the partitioners should receive a real share of the objects subject to the divestment, as the units are equalized with money.

In the second phase of the division, if submitted, the following shall also be considered:

the claims on the accounts of the distributors to recognize the costs he has incurred to increase the value of the property
claims to increase the inheritance (inheritance split)
as well as for the assignment of an indivisible residential property (in the case of a divorce of a matrimonial property community or an inheritance).

The casting may be done by drawing lots or by partitioning where the prerequisites provided for in law are available. Where a property is unalterable and can not be placed in one of the lots, the court shall order it to be put out for public sale.

This phase of the division ends with a court decision that has the power of a notary deed on shared real estate and is subject to entry in the Registry Office on the location of the property.

judicial split of property

– Public sale of the real estate

Upon completion of the partition procedure, it is possible to reach a public sale when the object of the division is an inseparable property that is not assigned to any of the partitioners (Article 354 (1) of the CCP) or when, after being placed in a share the co-ordinator has not paid to the remaining amount determined by the court for equalization of the units within six months from the entry into force of the award decision (Art.349, para 6 of the Civil Procedure Code).

Where the co-owner to whom the property is awarded fails to pay the remaining monetary equation within six months, the award decision is invalidated by law and the property is exported to a public auction.

.In this case, the property may not be sold for public sale and assigned to another co-owner if it has made a request for an assignment, the legal prerequisites are in place, and he immediately pays the price at which the property is valued at the split, less the value of his share in it.

When making the sale, the distributors take precedence over the third parties involved in the sale, each of them being able to buy the property at the highest bid. If several distributors wish to redeem the property at the highest price offered at the first sale, a new sale is only made between these dividers, which is carried out under the general rules.

After that the actual distribution is executed. With the help of an expert the court divides the real estate by creating of separate shares for each co-owner after which each of them receives his property by lot.

If the divided property is non-dividable and it can not be put into one of the shares then according to the art. 348 of the Civil and Procedural Code such property should be sold on a public sale which the parties can attend and where they can bid.

If the indivisible property represents a dwelling unit then according to the art. 349 para. 2 of the Civil and Procedural Code each of the co-partitioners who, upon the opening of the succession resided therein and does not own another dwelling unit, may move that the said dwelling unit be allocated to the share thereof, with the shares of the rest of the co-partitioners being equalized by another immovable or by money. Where several co-partitioners satisfying the conditions of sentence one lay claims to allocation of the immovable to the share thereof, preference shall be given to the co-partitioner who offers a higher price.

Each party of the case for judicial division pays the outstanding court fees according to the market price of the received share. There are no obstacles for the parties to make an agreement about the way of termination of the co-ownership during the judicial division and to arrange a court settlement.

June 24, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

DIVISION OF JOINTLY OWNED REAL ESTATE

The ownership right over one real estate may belong to one or to several persons. When one property has more than one owner than the type of ownership is called co-ownership.

The main option for termination of such co-ownership is division of the real estate. The main consequence of a division is that after such procedure the co-ownership is terminated and each of former co-owners receives individual property (or money equivalent relevant to the part of the property that belonged to him).

DIVISION OF JOINTLY OWNED REAL ESTATE, Bulgarian property lawyer, division of common property Bulgaria, Bulgarian legal advisor, Property division, Lawyer

The main prerequisites for execution of a division deal are the following: the real estate or estates to be actually divisible and possibility of creating of the shares that would be equal to the part of each co-owner, i.e. the possibility for division of the existing real estate into new separate real estates according to the current legislation.

If the co-owners of a property want to separate it from one another but can not reach consensus, an arbitrator in the dispute is needed . Judicial split is the most unpleasant way because it is tough, slow and expensive.

The divestment can be done in all cases of joint ownership – hereditary property, the dissolution of a matrimonial property community acquired through a common commercial property, the liquidation of a common right to build or overbuilding and overbuilding.

Before proceeding with a court case, try to convince the co-owners to divide the property voluntarily. If they disagree, then you can take the necessary action as a last resort .

You can pursue a case yourself as you file for a partition. Judicial partition is binding on all co-owners, even if they do not want to. When they are brought, they have no choice.

Or offer them to redeem your share, and if they disagree, you offer a buyer who agrees or you go to court.

The lawyer reveals that it is common for co-owners to agree on a voluntary partition during the first phase of the partition.

With regard to court fees , each of the dividers pays them according to the value of the share received after the division. State fees are paid at the end of the partition.

If you settle and divide the property in the first phase of the division, the state fee will be 2% of the value of the share received. If the court carries out the division, the fee is 4% of the value of the dividend. The value is determined by the valuation of an expert , who is also remunerated, usually different, depends on the property value, but the court still determines his remuneration.

There are also other fees for filing the application , the court settlement or the court’s decision, depending on which option will be made. The fee for filing the claim is 0.1% of the value, in this case the tax assessment.

You and your co-owners will choose which one is best for you.

The case for one court split is quite long . All co-owners are required to participate. In addition, judgments can be appealed, which can greatly prolong the divestment and follow-up.

There are fees for expertise, for lawyers’ fees, real estate valuation, circumstantial checks, and sometimes it can take years. In general, the court partition is expensive “pleasure”.

If a property is unalterable, it goes to a public sale . It is best to reach a settlement after the first court decision passes – it will give you an answer which is what share is, what is shared and who it is shared with. The second court decision answers who gets what.

The expert assesses, arranges bills between co-owners, and so on.

June 24, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Divorce procedures Bulgaria

For many Bulgarian citizens, the concept of “divorce” is associated with stress and material loss, and so many people prefer not to take action on their personal lives, hoping that over time they will all sort and do not apply for divorce.

Divorce in Bulgaria is subject to the Family law in Bulgaria, governed by the Bulgarian Family code that settles relations based on marriage, kinship adoption, as well as well as guardianship and tutelage. In Bulgaria, divorce procedures could be done in two ways:

Divorce by mutual agreement or
Divorce through breakdown of marriage, when both spouses are Bulgarian citizens. As such, the Bulgarian legislation is applicable.

As relationships get worse, spouses acquire children, different property is acquired, but in fact the family does not exist in the meaning of this concept of morality and law.

Suddenly he / she / decides that they want more than life and divorce, which is often absolutely unexpected for the other partner who should take action to get out of this unpleasant situation with minimal mental and material loss.

Divorce due to marriage disorder is a procedure that aims to end marriage due to a “deep and irreparable” disorder (Article 49 Family code). The claim is constitutive, is brought to the district court on the defendant’s permanent address.

The court is seized with the filing of a claim by one of the spouses meeting the requirements of the CPC and containing the requisite requisites – addressee, country data, relevant annexes, etc. and the request to the court to settle a divorce due to a deep and irreparable marriage disorder.

The personal appearance of the parties is mandatory at the first hearing. A consequence of the plaintiff’s unreasonable failure to appear is termination of the case.

The legal procedure of divorce by claim order

The legal regulation of the procedure has been describen in art. 49-52 Family code.,

A divorce by mutual consent is preferred when both parties agree on the reasons for divorce and the court allows for the procedure to take place without investigating the cause for the dissolution of the marriage.

This is the simplest type of divorce in Bulgaria and the costs involved in the procedure are much lower than in other cases.

Spouses must come to an agreement regarding the custody of the children, visiting rights, the division of the property acquired during the marriage, the use of the family name etc.

The evidence of the deep and irreparable disorder of divorce, which is the basis for divorce cases, must be proven in a competitive process .

These facts are appreciated by the court always in relation to the particular individual case, according to the law and according to the above-mentioned IFRS 10 / 1971d.

The Court should establish the reasons for the occurrence of a temporary and disruptive disorder, but its profound and irreparable disorder (such as paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 7 of PWS 10/1971) – these may be objective circumstances, and or marital malfeasance of one or both of the spouses.

Divorce proceedings in Bulgaria due to marriage disruption should be initiated by only one spouse . If there is mutual consent for the divorce, proceed according to Art. 50 of SC – divorce by mutual consent.

Account should be taken of the restrictive legal norm of Art. 320 of the Code of Civil Procedure, according to which the divorce proceedings are suspended if the wife is pregnant (until the child’s 12 months of age) if she so requests.

Matrimonial claims must also be respected. procedural consumption (exhaustiveness of the marriage process), according to art. 322 of the Civil Procedure Code and according to the mandatory for the courts Interpretative Decision No. 1 / 4.01.2001. of the SCCS of the SCC:

Art. 322. (1) In a claim for divorce, the plaintiff must provide all grounds for the profound and irreparable marriage disorder. Any reasons not mentioned, which occurred and became known to the spouse until the oral hearing is completed, can not serve as a basis for bringing a new claim for divorce.

As stated above, as the basis for the divorce claim is the deep and irreparable disorder of marriage judged by concrete facts proving it, each of these facts is in itself a ground of claim. If a plea is not mentioned in the case, it is overturned and can not serve as a new claim on the basis of that fact. Therefore, all the facts of family life justifying the occurrence of a profound and irreparable marriage disorder should be indicated by the end of the oral hearings.

All matrimonial claims may be joined together. the following claims must be lodged and considered:

For exercising parental rights;
On personal relationships and child support;
Using the family home;
Maintenance between spouses and surname.

At the request of one of the parties, the court may prescribe temporary measures on the care and maintenance of minor children from marriage (if any), the use of family housing and other property acquired during marriage, etc. questions. The provisional measures shall have effect until the final decision is taken.

When selecting a divorce lawsuit – DIVORCE by mutual consent or DIVORCE by legal claim, apart from always the individual and personal specificities of the particular case, the due fees for the proceedings should be known and taken into account:

State fee are payable upon filing of the application. It is paid to the account of the relevant District Court.

Final state fee should be paid on the account of the respective District Court in case of divorce. 2 per cent on maintenance payments for 3 years maintenance fees for the child on bank account of the District Court.

Other costs may arise in the proceedings, such as expert opinions on one or other matter, the value of which is different and depending on the complexity of the expert’s task.

The burden of all costs in the case – state fees, lawyers’ fees, expert opinions are assigned to the guilty or ill-conscious spouse when there is a ruling on the guilt (according to the norm of Article 49, paragraph 3 of the Family Code, the ruling on wine matters is no longer official , but only if one of the spouses has requested such a ruling) or remains at the expense of each of the parties – as they have done in the course of the proceedings.

In this comment, the issues of divorce proceedings are examined in principle.

Always consider and choose the procedure best suited to the specific case.

Our family law office provides legal consultations and representation during the contested divorce – a procedure that is quite emotional for the parties.

The information provided below will help you find more about this procedure.

If you need our assistance please call us on + 359 897 90 43 91 or send us a mail office@lawyer-bulgaria.bg

June 24, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Child maintenance, non-payment, consequences

There were numerous factors that can affect how much child maintenance you should pay or receive and we always advise that you contact us first to discuss your specific circumstances.

You should bear in mind that the child maintenance that is payable differs from country to country and it is quite possible that a claim can be lodged in the country in which the mother or the father or the child lives even if you do not live in the same country. If your family members live in different countries then maybe there is jurisdiction in more than one country.

Bulgarian Family Lawyer, Divorce, Child Maintenance and Custody

family divorce lawyer Bulgaria

Payment of child maintenance is the transfer of funds (money) from one person to another who needs them, and between them there is a family relationship.

The size of mountly payments – child maintenence has been declared and well described in the court desicion for divorce between the parents. Usually the childrens needs to be supprted in a case of divorce.

When someone is ordered to pay maintenance by an enforceable court decision but does not comply with that decision, ie he continues not to pay the maintenance of the person entitled to receive it, this may lead to unfavorable consequences.

One of these consequences is the possibility of an enforcement case being brought against him and the other being a criminal conviction, since the non-payment of maintenance for more than two months is a crime under the Penal Code.

When an enforcement case is instituted, the due date may be collected by compulsion by a state or private enforcement agent. If the debtor fails to pay after being invited to do so voluntarily, the judge may, at the request of the person entitled to maintenance (the claimant in the case), impose a distraint on his remuneration (the employer to withhold his money), the custody of the bank his bills (no money), a car or foreclosure on his real estate (prohibition to sell it), which may be in force until the lifting of the maintenance obligation, which may last for years.

In this case, the unpaid maintenance obligation is supplemented by the fees for initiating the enforcement case, fees for individual enforcement actions, and the amount of lawyer’s fees (the lawyer’s money has been filed and the case has been filed with the bailiff ).

The end result in this case is significantly increasing the cost of the debtor (neplatiliya maintenance ), which may go beyond sheer size of unpaid maintenance.

The non-payment of maintenance may also be due to an objective impossibility on the part of the debtor (illness, lack of work and means) and not to his unwillingness to pay such.

Child maintenance, non-payment, consequences

Where such an impossibility is established in the enforcement case, the payment is made by the State which is a substitute for the person who has been ordered to pay the maintenance, but fails to fulfill that obligation.

Whether or not an enforcement action has been initiated, a pre-trial proceeding may be initiated at the request of the entitled person or his legal representative for a criminal offense of a general nature and an indictment of a prosecutor may be brought before a court for a crime under Art. 183 para. 1 of the Penal Code – non-payment of maintenance for two or more monthly installments.

The punishment that the law provides is imprisonment of up to one year or probation . It is common practice for the accused to be sentenced to imprisonment, with the court postponing the execution of the sentence ( conditional conviction).

A conditional conviction, although not often regarded as a “real” punishment, is actually quite a serious consequence of the criminal liability and can have extremely severe consequences for the convict.

*We advice you to brought the child maintenance cases with our family lawyers, just to get a full protection of your and of the children’s interests.

June 8, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Legal grounds for divorce Bulgaria

Our family lawyer has been asked many times for the reasons and legal grounds for divorce in Bulgaria. Hiring a lawyer is advisable to avoid any futher problems.It is necessary. There are no formal impediments that would prevent either party from filing a petition in court.

Finally we would like to show basically the two important legal, grounds for divorce are set out in the Bulgarian Family Code: irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and mutual consent.

Divorce through breakdown of the marriage: Article 49 FC

Each of the spouses is entitled to petition for divorce where there has been a ‘serious and irretrievable breakdown’ of the
marriage.

(2) When granting the decree of divorce the court makes a ruling on its own motion on the issue of the fault for the breakdown of the marriage, unless the breakdown is caused by objective factors which cannot be ascribed as the fault of either spouse.

(3) The court does not rule on the issue of fault for the breakdown of the marriage where the spouses so request and they submit to the court their agreement on the custody of any children and access to and maintenance of the children, and also on the division of their property, the use of the matrimonial home, the payment of maintenance and the use of the family name.

(4) A divorce is not allowed where the breakdown of the marriage is due solely to the misconduct of the petitioner and the

Bulgarian Family Lawyer, Divorce, Child Maintenance and Custody

respondent wishes to preserve the marriage, unless there are important reasons why the divorce action must continue.

Divorce by mutual consent: Article 50.FC

Where there is serious and firm agreement between the parties about the divorce, the court allows it without investigating their motives for
terminating the marriage. A petition for a divorce by mutual consent cannot be filed until three years after the contraction of the marriage.

Agreement reached by the spouses in a divorce by mutual consent:

Above all else, divorce by mutual consent is a lot cheaper and faster, rather than filing a lawsuit. Such divorce is possible, if one of the parties is Bulgarian citizen.

Both parties must sign an agreement, which may be drafted in couple of languages – it’s imperative, that one of them is Bulgarian. In case of a lawsuit, relevant for the court will only be the one drafted in Bulgarian.
An agreement must be reached about all of the following:

The divorce will follow trough by mutual consent.
If there are children, born during the marriage – who will exercise effectively the parental rights, with whom will the children live respectively; what amount of child support is to be payed – child support may not be less then 125 BGN per month for every child.
When will the parent, who’s not effectively exercising the parental rights, be allowed visiting, personal contact, and personal time with the children.
Who will be using the family home, if there is one, and it is located in Bulgaria.

It should be noted, that according to the Bulgarian legislation, unlike other countries, the divorcing parties are entitled to alimony only in specific cases, where one of the parties is unable to work or maintain itself trough estate property, due to medical condition.

Article 51
(1) In a divorce by mutual consent the spouses have to include provisions in the agreement regarding the discharge of parental rights and obligations, their personal relations, and the maintenance of the children, and also their property relations, the use of the matrimonial home, the payment of maintenance and the use of the family name. The agreement is ratified by the court after it is satisfied that the interests of the children have been protected.

(2) Where the agreement is not complete or the interests of the children are not well protected the court sets a term within which these defects should be remedied. If the defects have not been remedied within this term, the divorce petition is dismissed.

Applications for child custody and child maintenance after the termination of a marriage by mutual consent

June 8, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Legal documents & apostiles

Most transactions involving real estate in Bulgaria require a notary at the location of the property. A notary may be used for a range of other dealings: to certify your signature on documents (for instance on contracts); to help you execute a Power of Attorney; to deposit a will for safe-keeping; to transfer a car or other vehicle, etc.

Bulgarian notaries are a regulated profession separate to Bulgarian solicitors (who are referred to as Bulgarian advocates), and Bulgarian notaries have a very specialised role. They function as trusted parties and repositories for certain types of formal business.

Notaries cannot also be members of the Bulgarian lawyer association, and being highly-specialised cannot generally assist with preparing the documentation or advising on the transaction or legal business you may be planning even though they are uniquely placed to help you give it formal effect. We are in a position to help you with these.

Scope of Notary Related Services

We draft and finalise all types of notary deeds — e.g. for the transfer of real estate through sale and purchase contracts, through gifts, by inheritance, etc. We are also in a position to advise you when and how to use the notarial form of contract to your advantage.

Because of our extensive experience and network of contacts among Bulgarian notaries, where more than one is available, we are able to liaise with them for you and ensure that you obtain the best service.

Verification of documents with an apostilles

Sometimes, if a document is required to be presented in Bulgaria but was signed or otherwise prepared outside Bulgaria, the document would need to be:

(a) certified; and/or

(b) apostilled

Apostillisation is designed to replace the older procedure of legalisation, and is governed by an international convention (we refer to this as “the Apostille Convention”).

An even simpler procedure may apply where the document was prepared in one of a small number of countries enjoying agreements for special assistance in civil and judicial matters with Bulgaria: contact us to find out if your country of interest is one of these.

By far the most common situation involves documents which do require an apostille. Apostilled documents are immediately recognised in all other Apostille Convention states simply by having a special seal (‘apostille’) attached, and can be used (subject to a certified translation) in place of notarised documents. In property transactions, apostilles may be needed on Powers of Attorney and on several of the documents in the procedure for company registration (if a company is used).

We can help you obtain apostilles. You just need to visit, getting the draft of documents HM Government’s office for apostille processing. This allows us to prepare an apostille for you and deliver the certified POA, etc, to Bulgaria within several days of your instruction.

In EUROPEAN countries, we maintain relations locally to allow us to apostille your document for use in Bulgaria as fast as possible. Equally, we can procure legalisations, certified and sworn translations of documents and certifications of documents produced or executed in Bulgaria for use in other countries. Contact us further for this.

Drafting of Notarial Deeds

Using a lawyer rather than a notary to prepare a notarial deed is wise for most property buyers or sellers. It commonly reduces legal costs by 0.5% of the purchase or sale price of the property.

Together with our thorough experience investigating property title and conducting Bulgarian legal due diligence, this creates a one-stop shop – we deal with both the formalities and the substantive protection of investors’ interests.

Given that Bulgaria still has a somewhat decentralised system for recording title, it helps to smooth the process that we maintain regular relations with the competent governmental authorities.

Certification OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

We certify documents from other jurisdictions for use in Bulgaria and vice versa. The ones most commonly used are: certification as true copies; for the authenticity of signatures on them; for use in legal proceedings; as witness statements; and as sworn statements and affidavits. We also prepare/help execute Powers of Attorney (POAs).

Service process

We offer procedural representation in Bulgaria to clients involved in international legal disputes in administrative, civil and penal matters.

If you need our legal assitance, do not hesitate to contact us immediately ! Our law firm D. Vladimirov & Partners is here for you to support your business to start well and seamlessly, so that you will be able to take advantage of all the opportunities and options our country is giving you.

Call us for more information on + 359 897 90 43 91 or send us your inquiry on office@lawyer-bulgaria.bg

June 2, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Legal check of property

Acquisition of Land

Our law office D.Vladimirov & Partners provide a professional legal services to property buyers in Bulgaria. As buyer of property If you would like to buy an apartment in Bulgaria, you need to purchase also an ideal parts of the building right upon the land.

We suggesting you to check this ideal parts of the ownership right and also the land plot for lack of encombrances Usually the construction companies would like to sell this ideal parts of the land plot, because they don’t need it, but this plot of land belong to the owners of the each living unit in the building, which means, everybody, who is owner of apartments in the bulding ,should have some ideal parts of the land plot, transfered on the Notary public without additional payment.

If you would like to acquire the ideal parts of the land plot, on which your apartment is built, and you have the agreement of the owner of the land plot, we are ready to support you or your company or preparation of the relevant documents and representation at the Notary transfer.

The process of property acquisition and disposal can be lengthy and complicated and we advise our clients on the significant commercial implications that might arise.

Real Estate and Construction

We advise on and draft development agreements, provide legal assistance in construction, planning and site disposal matters, fund-raising arrangements, freehold transfers and any associated due diligence reports.

We assist in the acquisition of real estate in Bulgaria and in the subsequent implementation of investment projects in the field of hotel management and tourism, golf courses, office and commercial buildings, industrial construction works, and renewable energy projects.

Please note we are chariging you for real costs and legal fees, state fees and the tax for transferring of ownership). If a travelling out of Sofia is needed, this would be calculated additionally.

Property legal check-up

Working with many international clients & corporate, our law office D.Vladimirov & partners has created a stable legal work policy for checking of the legal status of your property in Bulgaria. Acting as a qualified property lawyers in Bulgaria, we performing the legal check services for our clients, depending on complexity of every case in the Bulgarian property register. We check in the Property Register the status of the certain property and report to our clients the final results and warnings, if there are any.

This information would allow you to check whether there are any encumbrances upon your property, for which you do not know, for example: a mortgage for a loan, which is already repaid, interdiction, imposed by the tax authorities for unpaid tax obligations, or any other rights of third persons.

Bulgarian land investment no longer requires company !!!

As a result of the contractual obligations, undertaken by the Bulgarian government in relation to Bulgaria’s membership in the European Union, an important part of the Bulgarian law was recently changed. From 1 January 2012 citizens of the EU are no longer prohibited to purchase Bulgarian land, which is in regulation.

Until this date they had to set up a Bulgarian company and purchase land through the established legal entity, as according to the old law only Bulgarian individuals and companies had the right to acquire Bulgarian land. This led to many unfavourable consequences for foreign investors, such as paying additionally to a lawyer to establish a Bulgarian company, appointing an accountant for the relevant services and making other expenses, related to having and maintaining a company.

Legal Research property in Bulgaria

To sum up, from 1 January 2012 establishing a Bulgarian company is no longer necessary for EU citizens in order to buy regulated Bulgarian land, as they can legally acquire it as individuals. The prohibition continues to be in force until 2014 for land, which is out of regulation though (agricultural land, forests, etc.). If you are from the foreign investors, who have established a company only for the purpose of acquiring properties in Bulgaria, you can now transfer the properties to yourself as individual and close the company in order to cut the costs, related to having and maintaining a company.

Our law office D.Vladimirov & partners works with international clients for legal representation at a Property Acquisition or sale of property after checking in the Property register. Sometimes, if nessesert we are ravelling to the property or appropriate Notary public, just to represent you on the deal before the Notarty public, where you property is located.

Find independent legal advice

Numerous property owners are now experiencing problems with their property because they did not seek independent legal advice and instead used lawyers and translators which were recommended by the estate agent or developer and in some cases were acting for both parties. Appoint a lawyer who is experienced in property conveyance and fully independent of anyone else involved in the transaction, eg the estate agent, vendor or developer.

Call us for more information on + 359 897 90 43 91 or send us your inquiry on office@lawyer-bulgaria.bg

May 20, 2018/by lawyer

Legal advices

Bulgarian Construction Law Requirements

Based on the Costruction Law in Bulgaria the construction of a building could be divided in four major stages:

Getting of building permission – that document represents the official start of the building process. It is issued by the municipality council per location of the future building and after the architectural plan of the building has been given and approved. Every building without this document, even if finished, is illegal according to the Cosntruction Law and is to be demolished by the competent authorities.

Our Construction Law lawyers can you assist you the issuing of the Building Permission. Call: +359 (897) 90 43 91.

Issue of Certificate for rough construction, roof level, (Act 14) – this act certifies that certain stage of the construction process is reached. More specifically, the separate floors, staircases, outdoor and indoor walls, as well as the roof of the building are completed.

During the construction process the authorities issue an acceptance of the completed works by the investor and the supervisor

The completion of construction is certified by execution of a protocol (the so called “Act 15”) which is signed by the investor, the designer, the contractor and the supervisor. Act 15 is the document evidencing the delivery and acceptance of the completed works between the contractor and the investor. With it, they certify that the works have been executed in compliance with the approved design, the “as-built” drawings, the legal requirements for the construction works and the terms of the construction contract.

This Certificate called Act 15, the supervisor prepares a final report on the execution of the works. the inside doors are fixed at that stage, as well as the water pipes, electric wiring, central heating, the outdoor and indoor plastering is completed. The executor of the construction works hands over the building to the investor.

Issue of Certificate for Permission for usage (Act 16) – the building is completed in full at that stage. It is examined by government construction authorities if it corresponds to the initial architectural project about which the building permission is received and the other technical requirements and the construction legislation. The buyer could now inhabit the apartment or it could be rented.

These four stages are absolutely obligatory and a must according to the Bulgarian Construction Law and our company provides professional consulting services and negotiaton assistanceship bteween the foreign investors and the construction contractors.

OUR LEGAL PRACTICE – CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES

Real Estate and Construction

Throughout the years of our practice in the fields of construction law we actively took part into the development of projects, linear and site infrastructure projects, gas stations, environmental and water projects, waste treatment facilities construction projects, etc.

We have experience at all stages of the construction process – from the proper development of a detailed zoning plan procedure, giving the frames of the future construction project, and providing due diligence support to dispute resolution through court and adjudication and less formal resolution procedures.

We are also able to provide legal advice upon the necessary demolition of equipment, whose operation is terminated, and the related consequent land restoration procedures.

We are used to work in each and every step of the construction process, including demolition of lawful buildings and the consequent waste management issues.

Our practice includes legal advice and drafting of

various types of contracts needed for the organization and implementation of the construction process, i.e. design contracts,
EPC contracts,
design supervision contracts,
construction supervision contracts.

We represent our clients in the negotiations on the specific terms and conditions, rights, obligations and responsibilities of the participants in the construction process.

Our team coordinates the necessary matters with civil engineers, designers and other experts who help us deliver first class and effective legal support.

LAST changes in the construction law in Bulgaria

Аfter it came into force last month, changes in the law on spatial planning, which set the functions of the Ministry of regional development and the new Ministry of investment design, the management decided to make new revisions in the law.

The legal act to be divided into two separate, one will govern the territory, and the other will affect the investment process in construction.

Before that, however, will be prepared a “map” of the problems in the legislation and the obstacles placed in front of the business. On this basis will be made and changes in legislation to alleviate regulatory regimes.

The deputy hopes that with the new changes in the law will stimulate investment in construction. In his words, the decline of investments is not due only to the crisis, and the conditions under which they are forced to operate at the moment investors – without predictability in terms of time for the realization of the projects, their price, as well as participants in the entire investment process.

Another major problem that hinders the investments, is the lack of general development plans of municipalities. A total of 262 municipalities, 220 do not have urban plans, which investors must demonstrate the compatibility of the projects, the territory.

Regardless of whether you are a contractor with a changed conditions claim, an owner of a real estate property on where a landslide occurred and caused damage to another property we can help and consult you.

If you have any Construction Law issues and you need an expert lawyer to protect your rights all you have to do is to contact our Bulgarian law office.

May 9, 2018/by lawyer

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Bulgarian land investment no longer requires company !!!

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Find independent legal advice

Based on the Costruction Law in Bulgaria the construction of a building could be divided in four major stages:

During the construction process the authorities issue an acceptance of the completed works by the investor and the supervisor

OUR LEGAL PRACTICE – CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES

We represent our clients in the negotiations on the specific terms and conditions, rights, obligations and responsibilities of the participants in the construction process.

LAST changes in the construction law in Bulgaria

Any more questions? Feel free to write us a mail!

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