Notaries

Minutes and engrossments: what may really go from the notarial protocol?

30 March 2026 · 6 min read · DeSnipperaar

A notarial office produces a lot of paper, but far from all of it falls under the protocol. Where the minute must be kept for the long term, scratch material and withdrawn drafts may go after completion. Separating those flows is the heart of GDPR compliance and KNB-proof file management. This article lays out which documents belong where and what may actually be destroyed.

The protocol: what is included?

The Notarial Act (Wna) requires the notary to maintain a protocol. The protocol consists, in short, of the minutes: the original deeds signed by the notary. These minutes remain within the practice for life and, on resignation from office, are handed over to a successor or to the Keeper of the central archive (BRP/KCN). Destruction is not an option.

Alongside the minutes, the protocol includes:

• Repertoria (registers of deeds).
• Powers of attorney attached to deeds.
• Related documents designated by law.

These documents are not candidates for document destruction. Full stop.

Engrossments and copies: not the protocol

The engrossment (grosse) and the copy (afschrift) are issues of the minute to the parties. The minute stays at the office, the engrossment goes to the client. When an undeliverable or lapsed engrossment is returned, or when internal copies are no longer needed, the paper may be destroyed, provided the minute remains intact and the repertorium is correct. The latter is a content check: the engrossment disappears, the registration remains.

What may indeed go?

Outside the protocol there is a broad category that, after completion of the file, must be destroyed on the basis of GDPR storage limitation (art. 5(1)(e)):

• Scratch versions and withdrawn drafts of deeds.
• Internal working notes and checklists with client names.
• Print-outs of Chamber of Commerce, Land Registry and BRP that belonged to the deed.
• Copies of identity documents after the Wwft period has lapsed.
• Intake forms from clients who ultimately did not proceed to a deed.

For Wwft documentation a separate period applies: five years after the end of the business relationship or after the transaction. These documents may not go immediately, but they should be cleared once the period has lapsed. More on this in our article on Wwft client due diligence and the five-year period.

The core: the protocol is sacred, all the surrounding working material must be destroyed once the case basis falls away.

The practice of separation

In an average notarial office, protocol documents and working files physically intermingle. The file that lands in the cabinet at execution contains both the minute (to keep) and the complete working file (to destroy after the period). Practical separation usually goes as follows:

1. Minutes go to the minutes archive (often a fireproof safe).
2. Working files stay in the case archive with an expiry date.
3. The case archive is walked once a year and expired files are pulled.
4. The expired files go as a batch for destruction.

Why mobile destruction fits

For notaries professional secrecy is absolute. The starting point is simple: files may not leave the premises in their original state. Mobile document destruction solves that: the shredder comes to you, you watch, destruction happens on your own site. In audits the KNB likes to see that the chain is as short as possible. With a mobile truck that chain is a few metres between archive cabinet and hopper.

KNB audit: be prepared

The Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries also looks at how your archive is set up and how you destroy during audits. A certificate per destruction round, with date, weight and method, is straightforward evidence. How to practically prepare for such a review is in KNB audit: how to prepare.

Checklist: what belongs where?

• Minutes, repertoria, attached powers of attorney: protocol, do not destroy.
• Engrossments at the office: keep an issue register; engrossments handed back can be destroyed.
• Working file after completion: destroy after the Wwft period or an earlier accountability basis lapses.
• Withdrawn drafts, scratch work, intakes without execution: destroy once the case basis falls away.
• Data media (hard drives, backups): H-4 or higher on disposal.

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For the sector approach see our page Document destruction for notaries. Unsure about a specific category? Call or email us; we are happy to think along before something disappears that should have been kept.