Is it possible to sell an inherited house without deeds?
Table of Contents (6)
- I have inherited a house without deeds
- Situations that may arise when selling an inherited house without registration
- How to register an inherited house without paperwork?
- Selling an inherited house without registration
- FAQ about selling inherited houses without deeds
- JLA Notarios: Procedures for ownership of inherited houses
Laura came to our notary office the other day to ask us if it is possible to sell an inherited house without deeds. She inherited from her parents a family home in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona where her grandparents had lived all their lives. For years no one was too concerned about the documentation of the property because her parents had always assumed that “everything was sorted”.
The problem arose when they decided to sell it. When they started gathering papers, they discovered that the property was still partially in the name of the deceased grandfather and that old inheritances had never been properly formalised. Furthermore, the original deeds were missing and they only had some IBI receipts, old documents, and cadastral references.
The ownership of the property was not proven, so as the seller, Laura could not sell her inherited house without deeds.
I have inherited a house without deeds
Laura's case ended up requiring reviewing the entire registration situation of the property in order to correctly prove ownership and regularise the property before selling it.
So let's see what the process is for those who wonder if it is possible to sell an inherited house without deeds.
Situations that may arise when selling an inherited house without registration
When a person claims to have inherited a house without deeds, they can usually be in one of the following situations:
- the property never had a public deed,
- the original deeds have been lost,
- the inheritance was never formalised before a Notary,
- the property is not correctly registered,
- or the property was still registered in the name of deceased former owners.
How to register an inherited house without paperwork?
When deeds are missing or the registered status of the property is not up to date, if we wish to sell that property or regularise its registration, it will be necessary to obtain all related documentation.
In the case of Laura, the property had indeed been correctly registered years ago in the Land Registry, but much of the original documentation had been lost over time. The family did not keep certain old deeds nor some documents related to old family inheritances.
Selling an inherited house without registration
However, Laura could sell the inherited house and for that she first had to prove the inheritance. To do this, she presented the related documents at our notary office and had to make a declaration of heirs because her family had never made a will. With this document, she was able to make the deed of acceptance of inheritance and pay the corresponding taxes.
Learn more about these steps here:
Although Laura could already prove her status as heir, the property continued to present registration problems. For this reason, it was necessary to regularise the chain of registered ownerships of the house in order to correctly update the legal situation of the property and subsequently allow its sale.
So the next step was for our notaries for resumption of successive title to help her update that legal situation.
For that reason, we asked her for the following documentation:
- ID of the parties involved
- Literal death certificate of relatives
- Certificate of last will
- Declaration of heirs made
- Deed of acceptance of the inheritance
- Life insurance certificate that did exist, if applicable.
- Municipal capital gains tax.
Once the procedure for resumption of successive title was completed and the registered ownership of the property updated in her name, Laura was able to manage the deed of sale of the house to a buyer.
FAQ about selling inherited houses without deeds
If the property had never been registered in the Land Registry, before selling it it would have been necessary to carry out the first registration of the property to properly regularise its legal status.
To do this, you need to make a title deed procedure to register the property.
If problems arise during the registration regularisation, you may subsequently resort to the judicial route depending on the specific case.
Yes. The loss of the original deeds does not necessarily prevent the sale of an inherited property, provided that ownership of the property can be properly proven through other valid documentation.
JLA Notarios: Procedures for ownership of inherited houses
In many cases it is possible to sell an inherited house without deeds, although it is usually necessary to analyse and regularise the legal, hereditary and registry situation of the property correctly beforehand.
As happened in Laura's case, the lack of deeds does not always mean that the house has no owner, but often there are unformalised inheritances, lost documentation or family transfers that were never properly updated in the Land Registry.
At our notary office in Barcelona near Gràcia, we regularly advise on inheritances, regularisation of old houses, resumption of chain of title and files related to properties without deeds or with registry problems. Whatever your case, we will provide you with the most appropriate legal solution.
If you have inherited a house and do not have the original deeds, you can contact us and we will help you to regularise the legal situation of the property correctly thanks to our notarial property services.
