"We put the apartment in our parents' name. It felt safer that way." "The land plot was registered under my mother's name – to avoid paying extra taxes." "We'll just put it in our parents' name for now, and later, when we have time, we'll transfer it back to ourselves." Notaries hear stories like these on a regular basis. As a rule, people are confident that the property actually belongs to the one who paid for it. The paperwork, in their view, is merely a formality – something that can always be changed later.

Unfortunately, it is precisely this attitude that often becomes the root cause of the most painful family conflicts.

The Republican Notary Chamber regularly receives appeals from citizens who find themselves in difficult situations. During their lifetime, property was registered under parents, other relatives, or close acquaintances – to save on taxes, take advantage of benefits, protect assets from potential division in a divorce, or simply "for the time being." As long as all family members are alive, it seems that no problems exist.

But after the owner's death, it turns out that the law does not concern itself with who actually purchased the property, but rather with whom it was legally registered as the owner.

Let us consider a scenario. Over twenty years ago, a man purchased a land plot but registered it in his mother's name. All relatives knew perfectly well that the plot actually belonged to him. Over the years, the value of the land increased significantly.

After the mother's death, the inheritance was opened. By law, all six of her children became heirs. Most were willing to renounce their shares, understanding to whom the property truly belonged.

However, one of the heirs – an elderly woman with a disability who was undergoing treatment – decided, on the advice of her children, to accept her share, guided by concern for her own future and that of her family. Regardless of how we may view such decisions, the law does not operate on concepts of familial fairness. For the law, the owner is the person named in the title documents, and therefore the distribution of inheritance proceeds formally, among all legal heirs.

Such situations arise far more often than one might think.

It is not uncommon for a person who has gone through a difficult divorce to enter into a second marriage and, fearing another division of property, register an apartment or land plot not in their own name but in that of one of their parents. It seems like a safe bet: formally the property belongs to the parent, which means there is nothing to divide in case of another divorce.

But few stop to consider that parents have their own lives as well. They too may be in a second or third marriage. After the parent's death, the property registered in their name becomes part of the inheritance. The heirs will include not only the children but also the surviving spouse.

If that spouse subsequently dies, the property may pass to their heirs, including children from a previous marriage. As a result, an apartment or land plot that was once purchased with your own money may, through several stages of inheritance, end up in the possession of people who have never had any connection whatsoever to the purchase of the property or to your family.

Equally dangerous is putting off the formal transfer of property "for later."

Many are confident that they will always have time to sign a gift deed or draw up a will. But life is unpredictable. Sometimes a person simply does not get around to it. And once the inheritance is opened, it is the letter of the law that takes effect, not family agreements.

Even having a will does not always guarantee that the property will go to the person the testator intended. The law provides for the right of certain categories of heirs to a compulsory share of the inheritance, regardless of the will's contents. Therefore, not every life situation can be resolved with a will alone.

One often hears: "But the whole family knows that this property is mine."

Unfortunately, such words carry no legal weight.

The law does not recognize the notion of "this property is effectively mine." For the law, the owner is the person whose name appears on the title documents.

That is precisely why my advice is simple: do not register property in the names of parents, children, brothers, sisters, or other relatives merely for the sake of illusory savings or a desire to "play it safe." Such savings can end up costing you far more.

If you wish to protect property from the potential consequences of divorce, use the mechanisms provided by law – for example, a prenuptial agreement. If your goal is to transfer property to a specific person, consult with a notary in a timely manner about which method would be the safest in your particular situation.

The costs of formalizing a transaction or paying taxes may seem significant. But they are incomparable to the property losses and family conflicts that often result from registering real estate under someone else's name.

Sometimes a single decision made twenty years ago "for convenience" becomes the cause of years of litigation between the closest of people. And after the owner's death, it is often impossible to correct such a mistake.

Oleg POLUMORDVINOV

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