Deeds and wills published by notary Ivan Barbara to be handed to Chief Notary

The government’s Chief Notary has been appointed keeper of the deeds and wills published by the deceased notary Ivan Barbara and which have not been reviewed yet.

The announcement was made by the Notarial Council on Tuesday but it noted that any issues dealing with deposits paid were a civil matter over which it had no jurisdiction.

The Council urged clients of the former notary to seek legal advice.

The Council said the latest development comes after it contacted the Attorney General and the Chief Notary to Government to expedite the review process which, in normal circumstances, takes place on a yearly basis.

This process, whereby Review Officers of the Court of Revision of Notarial Acts inspect all deeds and wills received by Notaries in Malta and Gozo during the previous calendar year, ensures proper accountability and timely action in case any breaches are seen in cases of published contracts.

MaltaToday reported on Sunday that clients of notary Ivan Barbara who died in April this year in India after contracting COVID-19, have complained of being faced with a wall of silence over the monies they entrusted to Barbara after signing promise-of-sale agreements for property acquisitions.

Barbara, 47, died in a hospital outside New Delhi after contracting COVID-19 during his time there with his wife, while in the process of adopting a child. The notary passed away minutes before he was set to board an air ambulance from Delhi to Malta.

Yet four months since then, Barbara’s clients have had to engage lawyers after his wife Roseanne was unable to disburse refunds on their promise-of-sale agreements from her late husband’s client account and had refused to accept his inheritance.

These refunds are in jeopardy after it emerged that the late notary may not have deposited the funds into his clients account, but into his personal accounts.

Meanwhile, the inheritance process of the estate of the late notary Barbara is still ongoing, said the Council, adding that it had “no formal indication at the moment as to who the heirs at law may be.”

Moreover, it said, until the inheritance process is concluded, it was not “officially and conclusively possible to verify with any bank the number or the status of any accounts held in the name of a deceased person, which will be frozen at time of notification of death.”

It confirmed that the heirs of the late notary had renounced to his inheritance, saying it had been formally informed of this, but said it had “not had sight of, or been provided with, a copy of, either the application or the relative note of enrolment, to date.”

This communication, which it received from lawyer Phyllis Aquilina on 30 July on behalf of Barbara’s widow, was received in reply to the Council's formal request that said legal representative furnishes a full list of all acts - final contracts and wills - already published by notary Barbara which are still pending collection and review, and are in possession of the widow, the heirs at law or third parties.

In a Facebook post, Opposition MP Joseph Ellis thanked the Notarial Council for taking the initiative of appointing the Chief Notary to Government to preserve the acts. He urged all those who had recently used the services of notary Barbara to make contact with the Chief Notary to Government.

Ellis promised to continue following the case closely.