On 21 August 2026 Bulgaria's Ministry of Justice opened a public consultation on a package of legislative amendments aimed at property fraud. The draft is filed as consultation no. 12641 on the public consultations portal and was prepared by a working group including the Notary Chamber, the Supreme Bar Council, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Prosecutor's Office and academic lawyers.
The core amendments are to the Inheritance Act; the transitional provisions carry changes into the Civil Procedure Code, the Family Code, the Obligations and Contracts Act, the Property Act, the Notaries and Notarial Practice Act and the Civil Registration Act. In other words, almost every statute a property transaction passes through.
This is a draft at consultation stage. None of what follows is in force yet — but the direction is clear, and worth knowing now if your family has an elderly owner or an inherited property in play.
The explanatory notes concede that no consolidated national statistic exists for convictions in property-fraud cases. The figures cited are indirect but telling.
Prosecution data show fraud, and document offences in particular, rising over five years: 875 cases in 2020 and 1,198 in 2022. Since the start of 2025 the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office alone has worked on more than 60 property-fraud reports, opening pre-trial proceedings in 33 of them — and that is the capital only.
The ministry identifies three recurring methods: forged handwritten wills; notarial deeds issued on the basis of adverse possession supported by false witness testimony; and broadly drafted powers of attorney authorising disposal of property. The package targets all three.
Today a handwritten will is opened by a notary without any verification that the person named as testator actually wrote it, and in the presence of the applicant alone — statutory heirs are not notified. That gap is precisely what gets exploited.
The draft splits the procedure in two.
Where the testator personally deposited the will with a notary, the deposit protocol will record an express statement by the testator that the envelope contains their will. Authenticity is then secure and the existing procedure stands.
Where the will was not personally deposited, publicity applies: the notary publishes a notice of the opening on the Notary Chamber's website, and anyone with a legal interest may examine it and contest its authenticity before the notary. If it is contested, the beneficiary must bring a claim to establish validity within one month of being notified. A certified copy is issued only where no objection is raised, or where validity is confirmed by a final court judgment.
The practical consequence matters: a will of contested authenticity cannot be used to dispose of property. Today it can, which is why the fraud is often discovered only after the property has already been resold.
The draft also requires data on the testator, the opened will and any act of revocation to be entered and maintained in the Notary Chamber's information system under art. 28b of the Notaries Act, searchable only once the estate has opened.
A separate ground of nullity is introduced for a testamentary disposition made by a person residing in a medical facility or a residential care home for the elderly, where it favours the manager of that facility, an employee, or a related person.
The only exception is where the beneficiary is the testator's spouse, a lineal relative, or a collateral relative up to the fourth degree. Reporting on the published draft indicates an equivalent prohibition for gifts.
This is arguably the most concrete measure in the package. It asks nothing of the elderly person; it makes the transaction challengeable in itself.
A notarial deed based on adverse possession is how ownership is established by prescription where no title document exists. Today the procedure rests largely on the testimony of three witnesses — which is exactly where fabricated witnesses come in.
Under the amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, alongside the witness testimony the notary will also collect written evidence of the possession and its duration. The applicant must appear in person before the notary to confirm the circumstances asserted. And, most importantly, the opening of the procedure will be publicly announced — on the website and physical noticeboard of the relevant municipality, district or mayoralty.
For an owner who does not live at the property — the typical case with an inherited village house, or an heir living abroad — this is the real change. Until now such a procedure could run to completion without their knowledge.
The Notaries and Notarial Practice Act gains a duty: when property is being disposed of, the notary must check with the relevant registry office whether the person actually holds the right to dispose of it.
Many notaries already do this at their own discretion. The difference is that it becomes an obligation rather than good practice — which also changes where liability sits if the check is skipped.
For the first time, a person with full legal capacity would be able to voluntarily designate a trusted person, without whose consent they could not carry out specified acts of disposal over their property or take on certain obligations. The restriction would be entered in the relevant register and in the electronic personal registration record.
This is voluntary self-protection — a binding commitment a person imposes on themselves while in good health. It is a logical answer to schemes targeting isolated elderly people, and worth considering in families where one owner carries all the property risk.
Two measures from the administrative side deserve attention, because they save money and queuing.
Registration of older title documents that were not subject to registration when issued — principally contracts with the state or municipality and instruments of state or municipal ownership. Today people often obtain a notarial deed purely so there is something to register. That step falls away, and the property register gets more complete.
Acceptance of and renunciation of inheritance. The district court will notify the municipality of the deceased's permanent address so the fact is recorded in the electronic personal registration record. At present these are kept in a separate book at each district court with limited publicity, which makes issuing an accurate heirship certificate harder than it should be.
The draft is sound, but it is not insurance. Three things remain entirely yours to manage.
The power of attorney is still the most dangerous document in circulation. A broadly drafted authority to dispose of "all properties owned by the principal" is convenient, and that is exactly why it is risky. Narrow it — a specific property, a specific act, a clear expiry.
Self-monitoring is still necessary. A periodic check of your own properties in the property register costs little and catches a problem while it is still fixable.
Pre-transaction due diligence does not go away. Publicity for wills and a tighter adverse-possession procedure close off a few specific schemes; they do not replace a full documentary review of title, encumbrances and authority to sign.
On every transaction we review the title document across its full history — not just the latest deed but the chain behind it — the encumbrances recorded against both the property and the seller, and the authority to sign where a power of attorney is used. On inherited property we establish the circle of heirs and the existence of any will before a preliminary contract is drafted. The full checklist is in our guide Legal checks before buying a property, and what else we check on the seller's side is covered in our piece on the personal insolvency register.
The Ministry of Justice package of 21 August 2026 targets the three most common property-fraud methods: forged handwritten wills, adverse possession backed by false witnesses, and sweeping powers of attorney. The key mechanisms are publicity — for the opening of wills and for the start of an adverse-possession procedure — and turning the notary's registry check from good practice into a duty. The draft is at consultation stage and still has to pass through Parliament, so the wording may yet change.
If your family has an elderly owner, an inherited property, or a transaction coming up that will be signed under a power of attorney, and you want to know exactly what to check — call us or come by the office. We will go through the documents with you.
Information current as at 1 September 2026 and relating to a draft at public consultation stage. The final wording may differ from what is described here.
