Property
Cadastre registration with separate building and land ownership
Ownership is registered in the cadastre of real estate and passes on registration. Unlike Czechia, Slovakia retained the possibility of separate ownership of a building and the land beneath it, a frequent source of practical complication.
Key rules
- Ownership transfers on the cadastral office's decision to register, not on signature.
- A building and the land under it may be in different ownership.
- Signatures on transfer contracts must be officially certified.
- Agricultural land transfers are subject to statutory restrictions.
Governing law
- Civil Code, Part Two (40/1964)Ownership and rights in rem.
- Cadastral Act (162/1995)Registration procedure and effects.
- Act on the acquisition of agricultural land (140/2014)Farmland restrictions.
In practice
Standard registration takes 30 days, but an expedited fee reduces it to 15, and until registration completes the buyer has only a contractual claim.