IF THE OWNER OF THE LAND/BUILDING YOU WANT TO BUY IS DEAD, DEMAND FOR DOCUMENTS CONFERRING OWNERSHIP ON THE SELLER

IF THE OWNER OF THE LAND/BUILDING YOU WANT TO BUY IS DEAD, DEMAND FOR DOCUMENTS CONFERRING OWNERSHIP ON THE SELLER

Where the owner of the land or house you are interested in buying is late, insist on a document that transfers ownership to the vendor. Documents that transfer ownership of land/house of a dead person on a living person are Letters of Administration from the Probate Registry of a court, Court’s Vesting Assent, Deed of Gift or orders of court in a judgment, etc.

The ownership document in the name of the dead owner is not a proper document to be relied on by a buyer wanting to buy such land or house.

Transfer of ownership to a buyer must arise from a valid document of ownership, even when the person seeking to sell is the wife, son, daughter, sibling or close relative of the late owner. Relying on the late owner’s ownership document is wrong. It is an error that should be avoided.

The person seeking to sell can only sign in his own name and not in the name of the dead owner, and that would leave an unwanted discrepancy in the purchase – the difference in the names. If you don’t buy from the real owner who has a verifiable proof of ownership then you have bought nothing.

You cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stay there; it will fall. Nobody can validly sell as his own that which is not his.
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APEX CHAMBERS, Law Firm of Property/Real Estate & Business Lawyers, Barristers, Solicitors, Attorneys and Notary Public in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Phone: +234(0)7030868694

Email: info@apexchambersglobal.com

Website: www.apexchambersglobal.com