This could occasionally be explicit, as in Benedetto Porcellini's title in a 1519 notarial act: comes palatinus et sacri Lateranensis palatii apostolicis et imperialis (count palatine of the sacred Lateran apostolic and imperial palace).
[2] In some cases where parties willingly submitted their petitions to them, the imperial count palatine possessed jurisdictional authority (comitiva) to settle the matter.
Such cases included: the legitimizing children born out of wedlock; appointing guardians for minors; confirming that a minor had come of age; certifying adoptions; attesting documents such as wills; authorizing patents of nobility and coats of arms; conferring academic honors such as doctorates; appointing of notaries public and judges; and laureating poets.
The appointment as an imperial count palatine was a lucrative post, because the office bearer could levy fees for the execution of official acts.
The imperial count palatine gradually lost its importance, and the office ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.