By Ridwaan Desai,
Attorney Conveyancer and Notary Public,
practising as Desai and Associates

Q: My Brother in Law owns a time share apartment, and wants to transfer the share into my name. What will it cost to transfer the Title Deed into my name?

A: In a time share scheme you do not get a Title Deed, you are allocated Shares which entitle you to occupy the unit for a certain period of the year. The procedure in this instance would be to enter into a purchase and sale agreement in respect of the shares. Once that is complete, the agreement would be sent to the secretaries of the share company, who in turn would re-issue the share certificate with your name on it, thereby entitling you to occupy the unit.

Q: I own an apartment in a share block scheme, and wish to sell the unit. What fees would I be liable for and how much? The price of the unit is R 1 100 000.00.

A: When an owner of a unit/property sells, he is only liable for the Rates, Electricity and Water and Bond cancellation costs if the property is bonded. The rest of the costs in respect of transfer is borne by the purchaser.

Q: I have a property that is 5000 square meters, I want to sell a portion of the property. What do I have to do??

A: This is called a Sub-division of land, what will happen in this instance is that you will have to contact a Land Surveyor. He will survey the land, you will have to give him an indication as to how much of the land you intend to sell. With this information he will survey the proposed sub-division and mark it on a plan. Thereafter he will make an application to the municipality to have the sub-division approved. Once approved, the plans and surveyors diagram will be sent to a conveyancer to attend to the transfer of that portion that you wish to sell.

Q: I want to get married and would like to enter into an Ante Nuptial Contract. What are the formalities and who can prepare this??

A: There are no "formalities", all that is required are a couple who wish to enter into a marriage contract. This contract can only be done by a Notary Public, who thereafter has the contract registered in the Deeds Office against the parties names. For further information please see my future article regarding marriage contracts.

Q: My husband and I divorced, and in terms of the divorce settlement, I was given the house. How do I transfer the house into my name?

A: This process is not like a normal transfer, an application is made to the Deeds Office together with a copy of the Court, thereafter an endorsement is made on the title Deed reflecting the new owners name.

For any queries/questions please e-mail: legal@desaiattorneys.co.za
Next column: Marriage Contracts