How to Notarise a Deed of Gift in Australia

A deed of gift records that someone is giving something away: money, shares, land, an artwork, a collection. People looking to notarise one are often parents in Australia helping a child buy a home abroad, someone transferring land or shares they own in another country to a relative, or a donor giving to an overseas institution that wants the gift documented formally.

Before the practical steps, two things need saying, because they matter more for a gift than for most documents a notary sees.

Get advice before you sign

A completed gift is generally very hard to undo. Once the deed is signed and the property transferred, changing your mind is not usually an option.

Gifts can also carry consequences that are not obvious at the kitchen table: tax consequences for the giver even though no money changes hands, effects on means-tested benefits, stamp duty, and foreign exchange or reporting rules in the country receiving the gift. None of these is something a notary advises on. For anything significant, see a solicitor, and an accountant if tax is in play, before the deed is drafted, not after it is signed.

Why it is a deed

A promise to give something, with nothing given in return, is generally not enforceable as a contract. A deed can be. That is why gifts are documented as deeds rather than as simple letters.

A deed has its own execution formalities, such as how it must be signed and witnessed, and how a company signs one. In Australia those formalities are set by the law of each state and territory and they are not identical. If the deed is for use in Australia, the solicitor who drafts it will make sure it is executed correctly for the relevant jurisdiction.

The law of the place where the property is decides the form

This is the point specific to a deed of gift used overseas.

If you are giving land, shares or other property located in another country, the deed must satisfy the law of that country, not Australian law. Many jurisdictions require a gift of land to be in a prescribed local form, to be registered with a local office, and to have local duty assessed and paid, sometimes within a time limit that starts running when the deed is signed. An Australian template will often be refused outright.

So the correct order is:

1. Ask a lawyer in the country where the property is located to prepare the deed, or to confirm the required wording and formalities.
2. Settle any tax or benefits questions here.
3. Only then book the notary to attend to execution.

The same applies to a gift of money for a home deposit abroad. The lender may have its own gift letter or declaration it wants signed. Ask for it rather than drafting your own.

Why the notary will want to see the donor alone

Gifts from older people to family members are among the transactions most closely scrutinised for undue influence, and they are where disputes arise years later, often between siblings.

A notary attending the signing of a deed of gift is satisfying themselves of three things, and can decline on any of them:

1. Identity, from photo identification recorded on the certificate.
2. Capacity: that the donor understands what they are giving, to whom, and that it is permanent.
3. Absence of pressure: that the donor is acting freely.

That is why a notary may ask the person receiving the gift to wait outside while the donor signs, and why any interpreter should be independent rather than a relative who benefits. This protects the recipient as much as the donor: a gift documented this way is much harder to challenge later.

When the recipient must sign too

Some jurisdictions require the recipient to accept the gift in the deed itself. If the recipient is overseas, they may sign in their own country before a local notary, with the two signed parts put together afterwards. Agree the mechanics with the lawyer drafting the deed before either party signs, because the order and form of signing can matter.

What to bring

• The deed, unsigned, in its final form
• Photo identification for each person signing, preferably a passport
• Evidence of ownership of the property being given, if the deed or the destination requires it
• Company authority evidence, if a company is the donor
• The number of signed originals the destination requires

Apostille or legalisation

For use abroad, the notarial certificate goes to DFAT: an apostille for a Hague Apostille Convention country, or authentication then embassy legalisation for other countries. No notary can issue an apostille. If a registration deadline applies at the destination, build the authentication time into it.

What it costs

Notarial fees are not fixed by statute and vary between practitioners. As a market estimate only, attending the execution of a deed commonly falls in the $100–$250 range, with additional signed originals or parties charged on top.

What drives the cost up for a deed of gift: a bilingual deed or separate translation, more than one donor, a company donor needing authority evidence, several originals for registration abroad, and a longer appointment where capacity needs careful assessment. Legal drafting fees, DFAT and embassy fees, and any duty at the destination are all separate.

Frequently asked questions

Does the notary confirm that the gift is valid? No. The notary attests to the execution: who signed, and that they appeared to understand and act freely. Validity is a legal question for your solicitor and, for overseas property, a lawyer in that country.

Can I write my own deed of gift? For anything significant, it is unwise. The formalities, the tax position and the destination's rules all need to be right.

Can a Justice of the Peace witness it? For overseas use, no. A JP's attestation cannot be apostilled. For domestic use, who may witness a deed depends on state law.