A DECLARATORY DEED
What is a title deed ?
In the absence of a title deed, title must be proved before a Notary Public. The notarial deed is a form of acknowledgement of ownership of a property or an interest in a property based on documentary evidence and/or witness testimony. This can be done in 2 ways:
1- Certification of ownership based on documentary evidence.
2- Certification of ownership by prescription based on verification of facts and examination of three witnesses.
When issuing a deed by documents only, the procedure is considerably simple: you sign an application to the notary, submit the written evidence and pay the notary's fee and the registration fee - at the respective rates - according to the tax valuation of the property. No local property tax is due.
When a deed is issued, you must prove that you have had continuous possession of the property for at least 10 years, that the property is not a municipal or state property, and that you have paid, in addition to the rates, the local tax for acquisition of the property by prescription.
In both cases, before issuing the respective deed, the notary issues a decree - recognizes the right of ownership of the petitioner.
When is the issuance of a documentary deed required?
1. Inheritance of property or an ideal part of a property: You must prove to the notary that your heir owned the property. This is done by presenting his/her ownership document, e.g.: a deed, a decision of the Land Commission, a partition contract, a court decision, a contract for ceded building rights, a contract for the sale of municipal/state property, etc. You have to prove your heir status - with a certificate of heirs. A sketch and tax assessment of the property are also mandatory. Once the notary has verified the heir's ownership and your rights, he will issue you a deed recognising you as the owner of the whole property if you are the sole heir, or of a fractional/partial part of it if there are other heirs, after calculating your rights according to the provisions of the Inheritance Act. The issue of such a deed is not mandatory after the death of the heir. Citizens usually request it to certify their rights in the case of multiple heirs, especially when they need to prove exactly what part of the property they own.
2. A notarial deed for property acquired by will: Wills may be notarial or handwritten. Both have the same value. In this case, it is mandatory to get a notarial deed after notarizing a will and highly highly recommended if the will is handwritten. The reason is that in Bulgarian law notarial wills are not subject to registration and do not have the quality of a document of title. They only prove the will of the testator and the rights of the legatee. However, if the testator does not request a notarial deed after the death of the testator and if he is not an heir at law, no one else will know of the existence of a will. The legal heirs can then sell the property, because the existence of a notarial will is not reflected on the property's account at the Registry Office.
With a handwritten will, things are different. A declared will can serve as a valid document of ownership once a certified copy of it has been registered at the Registry Office. For this purpose, the notary will draw up a declaration of registration and tell you what other documents are required.
3. Issuance of a deed for buildings: It often happens in Bulgaria that the owner of a plot of land asks to "legalize" a house, garage or other building, to be issued a title deed for them. And here there are two ways: whether there are or are not building papers. If there are, he presents them, together with the title deed of the land, or with a contract for ceded building right /when the land is municipal, state or foreign/, a sketch and a tax assessment. The documents may vary according to the time when the construction was built and the requirements of the law then. Most often these are a building permit, a protocol for determining the building line and level, an approved design, and deeds issued during construction, depending on the type of construction. If the owner of the land does not have building documents, or they are not complete, and the construction was realized before 2001, it is possible to issue a deed after obtaining the so-called "Certificate of Tolerability". It is issued by the chief architect of the respective municipality, after establishing that the construction is "tolerable", i.e. - built without building permits, but was permissible under the current detailed urban plans and the rules and regulations in force at the time of its construction, or under the Urban Development Act. As part of the verification, the owner must submit to the chief architect a notarized declaration from two neighbors of the property in which they confirm when the construction was carried out.
5. Notarial deed in case of division or unification of property: It is most commonly used on agricultural land when the owner decides to divide a property with a specific number into two or more properties or vice versa - to combine them with a new identifier.
6. Other cases: There are many and varied grounds when a notarial deed may or must be issued on documents, either by request or by obligation: in the case of annexation of parts of properties under zoning, under the Law on Housing Cooperatives, under an administrative act, after a court decision on claims in rem, after a contract for the sale of inheritance, after a renunciation of inheritance, after settlements, etc. The notarial deed only establishes and does not create rights.
"The deed of title has a binding evidentiary effect on third parties and the court, obliging them to assume that the person named in the deed is the owner of the property. This is the legitimating effect of the title deed.
