Menorca The Basic Legal System

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One of the most fundamental aspects of buying property in Menorca Spain is that the ownership of LAND is all-important. Whoever owns the land owns what is built on it. Consequently, ownership of land is very important in the Spanish system.

In all property transactions in Spain, therefore it is most important to ensure that not only do you have a good title to the land (i.e., that you own the land and therefore everything that is put on it), but also that there are no mortgages or debts outstanding on the property that you might inherit when you buy the land or property.

All this information is contained in the Property Register, which is an integral part of the legal system involving the purchase of property. Making sure that you do have good title to the property is no work for an amateur and it is STRONGLY recommended that you engage legal help to do this. The equivalent to a UK solicitor in Spain is know as an ABOGADO. Our agents can advise you on local English speaking abogados.

The most common word you will hear in dealing with property purchase in Menorca Spain is the ESCRITURA. This means, "deed" and there are all kinds of escrituras in the Spanish legal system. The one in connection with property purchase is call ESCRITURA DE COMPRAVENTA, which roughly translates as "The title deeds or conveyance". At the end of the day, it is this document which will prove your title to the property in the event of any dispute.

The very first stage therefore in any property transaction in Spain is a simple check to make sure that the person selling you the property, is the owner and that there are no outstanding debts on it. The person selling will supply our agents with a copy of his escritura that will show the official address of the property and the registration number of the property in the property register. Our agents will write to the local property register and ask for a NOTA SIMPLE. The property register will then provide details of the size of the property, the name of the actual owner and whether or not there are any encumbrances (i.e., outstanding mortgages or debts) on it. This first simple check our agents carry out as early as possible in the transaction in order that you can avoid major problems later on.

If you are buying a second-hand house or new house that has already been built, then the escritura de compraventa may cover both the land and all the buildings that have been constructed on that land. If, however, you are buying a plot of land on which you intend to build or are buying a plot of land on which there is a house partially constructed, then it would be usual to carry out the transaction in two stages:
· The first stage is to get the escritura of the land as soon as possible. You can, of course, only do this by paying for the land in full, but this is your guarantee that you at least will own the property, which is built on the land.
· When the building work is completed, you obtain a DECLARACION DE OBRA NUEVA (which literally means "declaration of new work"). This takes the form of a further escritura, which describes the property that has been built on the particular plot of land.