QUESTION
I own a piece of land in the province of Cádiz and I would like to divide it up into two plots to give to each of my children. A friend of mine who is a solicitor has told me that it is not sufficient to draw up the relevant documents before a notary and register it since this operation requires obtaining a municipal licence. Could you please clarify if this is the case and if what the procedure is.
ANSWER
It is true that all acts concerning the parcelling of land should be carried out in accordance with the relevant regulations and terms laid down in town planning ordinances concerning town planning instruments.
In this sense, any operation involving the parcelling out of land requires either a municipal urban licence or alternatively a declaration stating specifically that such a licence is not necessary. No title deed relating to the act of parcelling out of land may be authorised or registered without supplying this obligatory licence or “declaration of non-necessity” which notaries are required to attest to in the relevant deed granted.
Municipal licences concerning the division of plots of land and declarations of non-necessity are awarded and issued subject to the condition that the corresponding deed granted by a notary public recording the parcelling out of land is presented before the town hall within a period of three months after the licence has been awarded. Failure to present the deed to the local authorities will invalidate the licence or declaration of non-necessity. The presentation period may be extended for justifiable reasons.
The deed witnessed by the notary public containing the act of parcelling out the land together with the licence or declaration of non-necessity should also state the grantor’s petition to the notary to dispatch a certified copy of the deed to the corresponding town hall authority by recorded delivery in order to comply with the requirement indicated above.
