A multilingual conveyancing lawyer will cut out any possibilities for confusion or misunderstanding that may arise when you attempt to understand or translate the promises of a seller. Hence, your transaction will become more secure and you will also be provided with a free translation service when dealing with the real estate agent, the public notary, banks and many other official bodies.
All formal documents relating to Italian convincing must be written in the Italian language and are always governed by Italian law, regardless of the nationality, residence or domicile of the parties. Therefore neither party may designate a different foreign legal system to govern their property in Italy, nor a foreign language of their choice for the transaction. Italian legal jargon often bears as little resemblance to standard Italian as does its counterpart in English law to spoken English. It is important to ensure that nothing gets misunderstood or lost in translation. Do not therefore sign any document in Italian without understanding precisely what you are committing to in plain English. A number of estate agents use printed contracts which have English translations. None of these is ever correct, in the sense that either the translation itself is wrong or, more usually, some terms of English law have been used which conveys a wrong impression of the meaning of the original Italian term. Even if you sign an extract or summary in English, it is usually the full Italian version only that will have legal force. Do not presume that any claim that the document in Italian was not understood can be upheld as a legal defence. In any country, ignorance of the law and language is no excuse.
If the Italian authorities believe that your command of Italian is inadequate, they may insist on you appointing a qualified translator/interpreter in Italy for the whole of the Italian conveyancing transaction, or at least for the completion. The costs of this for one meeting may involve significant expense. If you want a professional interpreter involved at any stage, please ensure that he is qualified and totally independent. This would exclude, for example, a bilingual estate agent, a retired school teacher or an English-speaking relative of the seller, or others who might offer to explain the documents at the notary’s office at the moment of completion.
Your separate independent legal advisor will be able to communicate with you in plain English, and at the same time communicate with Italian professionals in the technical Italian language that they understand so that the legal translation relating an Italian real estate transaction be faithful and accurate. This usually requires a degree of seniority and experience.
