Over the years, changes in regulatory and cadastral plans for real estate have led to complications in the division and transfer of properties. In this article, we describe a case from our practice involving numerous issues related to inheritance, contracts, property law, and territorial organization.
Change of the Cadastral Map for Donation and Division
Our client is a co-owner of a 1200-square-meter plot in a village near Sofia, shared with 14 other people. The Georgiev & Petrov Law Firm team is updating the cadastral map to align with the mid-20th century regulatory plan and the actual ownership of the plot. This update is essential to finalize a deed of gift for common property and a deed of partition.
Contracts and Inheritance
Between 1970 and 2022, six contracts were executed to transfer parts of the property, and at least four owners died, passing their shares to their heirs. Additionally, in 2000, 300 square meters of the plot were acquired by adverse possession from a neighbor, along with another square meter from another part of the property. Therefore, these two parts are excluded from the equation.
Regulatory and Cadastral Plans
The original regulatory plan was adopted in the mid-20th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, a cadastral map and register were created for the property, which did not correspond to the regulatory plan and title, resulting in the plot being divided into nine different cadastral properties.
Purpose of Property According to Cadastre and Regulation
One part of the plot falls into an area marked as a street in the cadastral map. However, this is not an obstacle, as the regulatory plan does not designate this section for use as a street.
A few years later, a new regulatory plan was approved, designating the client’s land for landscaping. This introduces a risk of expropriation by the municipality. However, it is unlikely that the municipality will expropriate the land due to the monetary compensation required and the fact that landscaping is not a priority activity.
Assignable Parts
Another point of interest is that the plot owners had the right to purchase approximately 600 square meters from their neighbors, which were allotments under the old regulatory plan. However, they have not purchased them, and due to changes in legislation, they no longer have this option.
Establishing Contact with Co-owners
The above analysis is based on notarial acts, simple and combined drafts, and certificates of heirs. A complicating factor in this case is that the client does not have contact information for some co-owners. This necessitated a search for them through all possible legal means. Despite the complexity of the task, our team was able to contact each one of them.
