Providing Proof of Ownership

Providing Proof of Ownership

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Overview

In England and Wales, proving ownership of property is essential for many reasons, including the satisfying of financial institutions, legal transactions, inheritance matters, and disputes. Whether you are buying, selling, or inheriting property, having clear and irrefutable proof of ownership is crucial.

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Registered Property Ownership

The Land Registry Title Register is one of the two documents of Title. An official copy of the Register is absolute proof of ownership. All Registers provided by ourselves are official copies. The Land Registry are charged with registering all property in England and Wales once a trigger event has occurred, such as a purchase or mortgage of a property. There are other trigger events, which are dealt with in a separate article, but the two above events are by far the most common.

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Unregistered Property Ownership

Where the property is not registered you will need to show that the property is not registered and provide a copy of the Conveyance or Transfer to you when you purchased the property. Alternatively, you could take the Deeds to a Notary or a solicitor and ask him to prepare a legal document to confirm your ownership.

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Inheritance

If you need to prove ownership before the property is registered in your name after acquiring the property by inheritance, you can prove ownership by producing the Title Register for the deceased person and an official copy of the Probate or of their Will and death certificate.

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Delays in Registration

Where registration of your purchase is delayed by the Land Registry you can ask your solicitors to apply through their Land Registry Portal for an expedite, which will reduce the registration time to 10 days.

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Prior Ownerships

If you are asked to provide evidence that you owned a property that you have now sold, you can apply to the Land Registry for a copy of a Prior Title Register, which will show the entries at a particular date that you specify. This date must be later than 1993 and the property must have been registered at that date.