Definitive owner of Land/Property

[Whamcloud]

Hi,

Who is the definitive ower of a piece of land/property.

Is it like a car in which the owner and the registered keeper are not necessarily the same. I buy a house from Joe in the pub and instantly become the legal owner, then register myself later to inform the land registry.

Or

Is it the case that until the land registry is informed the legal owner does not change. I buy a house from Joe in the pub, but I do not become the legal owner until I register it with the land registry.

Many thanks

Chris

I did search for this answer.

[atticus]

The legal title belongs to the the person(s) named on the Land Registry title as registered proprietor(s). They have the power to sell, mortgage etc. They may hold the legal title on trust for others who have a beneficial interest in the land.

Is this a student question?

[Whamcloud]

I love your answer for the following reasons. I have become involved in a situation where a senior solicitor in a not small law firm has taken action against someone on the grounds they own a house. However the property is still registered to the deceased parent (the estate) of the person in question. There is now an attempt at a slight of hand to change the focus to the estate. All the work such as the Letter Before Action refers to to the person not the estate being the owner.

So my question was really to see if it was an absolute, sorry for my simplistic phrasing.

You answer humours me because I have been trying to work out if this is a GCSE level error or A-Level, I thing the former.

[atticus]

It is nice when someone loves my answers

If you would like to discuss the threatened action that underlies your question, I and others will be glad to look at it.

I asked if this is a student question given (a) the way you asked it and (b) that we are now in the assessment/coursework season.