"Notaries earning 60,000 euros a month before tax"

Knack examined the accounts, deducted personnel and all other professional costs, and worked out how much gross profit each notary was making. The results are startling: In Ghent one notary made nearly 1.5 million euros in 2016. A colleague in the jet set resort of Knokke-Heist took home 1.9 million euros before tax, working out as a monthly salary of 160,000 euros. These figures are exceptional, but notaries doing less well were still taking home 60,000 euros before tax. The magazine concludes that the average pre-tax monthly earnings of notaries are around 100,000 euros.

None of the notaries whose accounts were examined wished to respond. The Federation of Notaries accepts that members are making a good living, but adds that the figures published by Knack form an exception.

40 notaries only represent 2.6% of the total number of notaries in Belgium. The liberal professions federation earlier worked out that the average pre-tax monthly income of a notary was around 16,000 euros. Surging property prices have boosted notaries' income of late. The number of transactions involving a notary has risen and government measures mean more people are making registered donations.