Buying a house in Morocco: notary or adoul only (Law 41.25)

Since 16 July 2026, Law 41.25 has made the authentic deed mandatory in Morocco for every property sale, promise of sale and property power of attorney, on pain of nullity. It removed the third route: the deed of certain date (acte à date certaine, a deed whose date is legally established) drawn up by an authorised lawyer. Only the notary and the adoul, the two public officers who can receive property deeds in Morocco, remain.

If you are wondering how to buy a house in Morocco, this is one step you cannot get around: the deed that transfers the property, and the documents that come before it, must now be received by one of these two public officers. The law went almost unnoticed, published in the middle of summer and, when I first wrote about it in August 2026, available only in the Arabic edition of the Official Bulletin. As a result, several French-language reference pages still described the old rule. Here is what the text says, exactly what it covers, and what it changes if you are buying from abroad.

In short

• What changed on 16 July 2026: these deeds can now only be received by a notary or an adoul. The route of the deed of certain date drawn up by an authorised lawyer admitted to the Court of Cassation, which already existed before 2024, is closed.
• Watch the date: it is older than you might think. The promise of sale has required the authentic form since August 2024, and property powers of attorney since 2017, not since 2026. A privately signed preliminary agreement was therefore already void last year.
• The scope is wider than announced: it also covers co-ownership, the preliminary contract for off-plan sales (VEFA) and lease-to-own contracts.
• “Authentic deed” does not mean “notarial deed”: the notary and the adoul are both authorised.
• The text provides for no transitional period. It has applied since its publication.

What the text says about the authentic deed

Law no. 41.25 was enacted by dahir (royal decree) no. 1.26.30 of 3 July 2026 and published in Official Bulletin no. 7526 of 16 July 2026. It amends article 4 of the Real Rights Code (Code des droits réels), the article that sets the form required to transfer ownership of a property.

The new article 4 reads as follows: all deeds relating to the transfer of ownership of a property, or to the creation, transfer, modification or extinction of other real rights, as well as the property promise of sale and the powers of attorney relating to them, must be drawn up as an authentic deed, on pain of nullity, unless a specific provision states otherwise.

Two phrases carry the whole weight of the reform. On pain of nullity: the sanction is not a financial penalty, it is the validity of the deed itself that is at stake, and with it its power to bind the seller to you. Whether anything can still be put right, and on what conditions, is assessed case by case with the professional who receives the deed. Unless a specific provision states otherwise: the rule allows exceptions set out in other texts, which is why you should have your own case reviewed rather than reasoning by analogy.

The text contains no transitional provision, unlike other laws published in the same Official Bulletin, which explicitly set their own application deadlines. It has therefore applied since its publication.

What disappears: the third route

To grasp the scale of the change, look at where things started. Article 4 of the Real Rights Code has been amended three times in less than ten years, and each step has tightened the required form.

In 2017, a first reform (Law 69-16) made powers of attorney relating to these deeds subject to the same form as the deed itself: an authentic deed, or a deed of certain date drawn up by an authorised lawyer. In August 2024, Law 41-24 took the step with the heaviest consequences for a buyer: it added the property promise of sale and the mandates relating to it to article 4. It is this text, not the 2026 one, that made a privately signed preliminary agreement void. But the 2024 law left two doors open as to form: the authentic deed, or the deed of certain date drawn up by a lawyer admitted to the Court of Cassation.

Remember this date: for many readers it is more useful than the 2026 one. If you signed a preliminary agreement directly with a seller in 2025, it was already void.

It is the second door that Law 41.25 has just closed. The wording has simply disappeared from the new text. This is not tighter control of an existing practice: it is the removal of an option that was lawful the day before.

In practice, a property deed entrusted to a lawyer today, on the basis of a rule that applied until July 2026, would be void. On this point, several online resources, including legal ones, still reflect the 2024 version.

The operations covered

A quick reading picks up only “the sale”. The text goes much further, since it amends four laws at once.

Two rows of this table deserve particular attention when you buy from abroad. The promise of sale, because it is the first document you sign, often the only one you sign before paying a deposit. And the preliminary contract for an off-plan sale (VEFA), because it is the one developers hand over on new-build projects, under various names.

These rows do not all date from the same day. The promise of sale has fallen under article 4 since August 2024, powers of attorney since 2017, as seen above. For co-ownership, off-plan sales and lease-to-own contracts, it is the articles of the 2026 text that set the sanction in their current wording. An older document that falls under one of these three rows should be reviewed by a professional, not judged on your own.

An authentic deed does not mean a notary

This is the most widespread confusion on the subject, and it has practical consequences.

The text speaks of an authentic deed, not a notarial deed. Article 418 of the Code of Obligations and Contracts defines an authentic deed as one received, with the required formalities, by public officers authorised to draw up deeds in the place where the deed was drawn up. In Morocco, that means the notary and the adoul.

In practice, one does not replace the other. The notary draws up the modern deed, the usual route for a registered property with a land title (titre foncier). The adoul draws up traditional deeds, the usual route for unregistered property. The choice therefore follows the nature of the property, not a preference.

What has disappeared, once again, is the authorised-lawyer route for this type of deed. Nothing stops you from having a lawyer review a draft contract, which is even a good idea on a large transaction. What is no longer possible is for the lawyer to receive it.

What it changes when you buy from abroad

If you are buying without being in Morocco, the reform comes down to three practical habits.

1. Who receives this deed, and in what capacity? This concerns the first document you sign. A preliminary agreement drafted and signed between the parties, sometimes at an estate agency’s office, is still common practice. That document is now void, and a void document does not protect the deposit that goes with it. A document stamped by an agency is not an authentic deed. Beyond the form, the land title itself is a separate check, to be done before you pay anything.
2. Is my power of attorney authentic and entered in the register? If you buy without being on site, the power of attorney is the keystone of the transaction, and it is regulated twice over: by the authentic form this law has just tightened, and by entry in the national register created by a separate reform, in force since 1 June 2026. The two requirements apply together.
3. How much time is left before the target date? Going through a public officer means booking an appointment, gathering documents, sometimes having a document sent from abroad. Anticipated, this constraint costs nothing extra. Discovered the day before a signing, it pushes everything back by several weeks.

Taken as a whole, this reform goes in the same direction as the other 2026 texts: less flexibility, more traceability. For a buyer who is abroad and cannot physically check every step, the constraint tends to work in your favour. A deed received by a public officer is a deed whose existence and date cannot be disputed.

Conclusion

Making the authentic deed mandatory in Morocco does not complicate buying property: it closes a side route. The real risk is not the new rule: it is signing a document that was valid until 15 July 2026 and no longer is. If you are a foreign buyer, the rest of the legal picture, including what you are allowed to buy, is in can foreigners buy property in Morocco.

Preparing a purchase in Morocco and want to be sure every document you sign really binds the seller? Book a free call on Calendly, or message me on WhatsApp.

Sources: Law no. 41.25, enacted by dahir no. 1.26.30 of 17 Muharram 1448 (3 July 2026), published in Official Bulletin no. 7526 of 16 July 2026, Arabic edition; article 4 of Law no. 39.08 on the Real Rights Code as worded by that text and, earlier, by Law no. 69-16 (dahir no. 1-17-50 of 30 August 2017); article 12 of Law no. 18.00; articles 418 and 618-3 of the Code of Obligations and Contracts; article 4 of Law no. 51.00. This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice: the exact form required for your transaction must be confirmed by a notary or an adoul.