The owner of a property must be entered in the land register. If a couple who own a property together get divorced, it is important to know who is registered as the owner in the land register. To understand the consequences of this, it is important to know what is in the land register and how it is structured.
It often happens that one of the spouses pays off more of the property than the other because they brought more assets into the marriage or have a higher income. In the event of divorce, however, this is irrelevant. The decisive factor is who is listed in the land register with how many shares.
The land register is the "identity card" of the property. The cover sheet, the so-called land register inscription, already contains the details of the land register district, the number of the sheet and often also the closing and transfer note. The inventory of the land register contains the exact location and the property designation - i.e. the district, parcel, location designation and size of the property. The land register is also divided into three sections.
Division I
Section I documents the ownership structure of the property, i.e. who the owner of the property is. This can be one or more owners. If there is more than one owner, it also states who owns which shares in the property. In the case of spouses, this can be 50 percent each. However, there are also splits into two and one third or other splits. If three heirs own a property, one of them usually owns one third each.
Division II
Section II contains the so-called encumbrances and restrictions on the property. These are registered residential and usufructuary rights as well as rights of use such as a right of way. Supply and disposal line rights are also recorded here. This regulates that electricity, gas, water and wastewater pipes may run through the property.
Division III
Mortgages and land and pension debts are recorded in section III. If a bank has financed the purchase of the property, a land charge is usually recorded here. This is the amount that the bank registers as security for its financing loan. Once the loan has been paid off, the land charge is deleted.
Notes that are no longer valid are either underlined or crossed out. These are supplemented by the corresponding deletion and change columns. As the entries must always remain legible, no entries are removed.
Are you unsure what individual entries in the land register mean or what the best solution is for your divorce property? Get in touch with us! We will be happy to advise you.
Notes
For reasons of better readability, the generic masculine is used in this text. Female and other gender identities are explicitly included where this is necessary for the statement.
Legal notice: This article does not constitute tax or legal advice in individual cases. Please consult a lawyer and/or tax advisor to clarify the facts of your specific individual case.
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