The process that needs to be followed when buying a property in the name of a Trust or a Company is no different to the process when individual/s buy property.

A sale is negotiated between the buyer and the seller and a sale agreement is signed by the representatives of the trust or company.  There is often an estate agent involved to assist with the negotiations and to ensure that the sale and purchase is correctly concluded.

Before a property in South African can be transferred from one person/trust/company and registered in the name of another person/trust/company, a formal process must take place which is conducted by a specialist property lawyer – a conveyancing attorney.  The Registrar of the Deeds Office of the province where the property is located will record the change of ownership in the country’s land register.  The change will be done based on the documents provided by and signed off by the conveyancing attorney.

During the transfer process, the conveyancing attorney will request a number of documents from the seller and the purchaser so that the attorney can draft the relevant transfer documentation, comply with the laws and regulations of South Africa and collect the required clearance certificates from the various institutions and authorities.

When the buyer is a trust or a company, one of the most important documents that the trust or company will need to collect is the resolution or the minutes of the meeting of the trustees of the trust or the directors of the company where it was agreed that the trust or the company can buy the property, and the person representing the trust or company has permission to do so.

A similar approach applies for the seller.  If the seller is a trust or company, the resolution or minutes of the meeting of the trustees of the trust or the resolution or the minutes of a meeting of the directors of the company has to be in place and correctly signed off so that the trust or the company has the permission to sell the property.

An experienced property lawyer will ask for the resolution or the minutes at the start of the conveyancing process and he/she will also ask for other documents, which can include:

• Trust: Letters of Authority, identity documents and details of the trustees, tax certificates, banking details and financial statements of the trust.
• Company: Memorandum of incorporation and historical documents of the company, identity documents and details of the directors, tax certificates, banking details and financial statements of the company.

If you are buying a property in the name of a trust or a company, make sure that you have an experienced property lawyer assisting you before you sign any agreement with a seller.  Collecting the correct documents from the start will save time during the conveyancing transfer process.