Dividing land owned as tenants in common to sole names

If you have 6 acres of land currently owned by means of a tenants in common situation and want to change it so that 5.5 acres is owned solely by one party and 0.5 acres is owned solely by the second party - is it simply a matter of both parties writing to registry of deeds and are there tax implications? I got a copy of the conveyance from Registry of Deeds but it just says tenants in common but doesnt say what proportion is owned by each person?
Any help or ideas greatly appreciated - hope this is right forum.

Depends on the value of each part.

Hi Vanilla thanks for reply.
Sorry but Im not sure what your asking me. All the land is in the same area same zoning etc so it would be worth the same proportionally. Does it make a difference what value the two parts are - are there different ways of transferring the ownership depending on value?

I think what Vanilla is getting at is that if land changes ownership in this fashion, essentially one party is gifting the land to the other. Depending on the value of the land, this gift might exceed gift tax allowances and thus might attract gift tax.

Oh right sorry - Would it be classed as a gift even though the conveyance document didnt say what way it was divided originally. Does the law assume that in tenants in common if the percentage divide to each party is not specified at the time of purchase then it defaults to 50/50?

Im wondering if there is any way of changing the tenants in common to say that it is to be owned 91% by one party and 9% (i.e. half acre) by the other?

Basically what has happened here is that while legally we are both still on the deeds - in reality the other party has been paid in full for the original cost of the land and therefore has no financial interest in it at all - so what I want to do is now rectify the legal situation to reflect reality and obviously I need to know if there will be tax implications as before doing any changes I need to be sure I can meet any tax bill I might get. Thank you again for help so far

So which is correct- the other party is to get an actual .5 acre which can be pinpointed on the ground, they are to get a percentage of the entire acreage or they are to get nothing as they have been paid in full? If it is an actual pinpointed half acre, what is the value of this and what is the value of the remaining land, when and how was the money repaid to them etc

Hi Vanilla
Sorry I reread my earlier posts and realise Im confusing the issue. Im trying to keep it short but its a bit complicated. Ok Yes they were paid by cheque approx 3 years ago - they cashed the cheque and paid off their loan. So technically now have no financial interest here - but I have agreed on top of paying back the money to give them the half acre as a final settlement in return I get the other 5.5 acres. Their half acre can be pinpointed on the ground. I dont know the value of it - there is no planning permission or anything on it. I have asked a local auctioneer and the reply was that it is difficult to put a price on it as land prices are largely determined by the market - so that was a lot of help. Land does not often come up for sale here so Ive no comparasion to be able to make a guess at.
Do you have any idea if you can make a change to this tenants in common thing so it reflects that they will then only own the 0.5 acre which is about 9% of the total of land and that I own the rest - if so how do I go about this? I hope this makes sense and thank you for your patience.

Certainly this can be done- it's just a question of the financial implications of doing so. You will need to get a valuation f the two separate pieces= the five and a half acres and the remainder. Then you will need to assess whether the half acre plus the half of the purchase money originally paid equals the value of half the entire so that the tax/stamp duty potential cgt or gift tax implication can be analysed. Without the valuations and the information about what was originally paid, any increase in value since and the payment made to the other tenant in common we cant advise.

Ok thank you - I need to get valuations done - as ive mention Ive asked estate agents here locally but got no joy - not sure where to go from here to get valuation done

Monsoon said:

Ok thank you - I need to get valuations done - as ive mention Ive asked estate agents here locally but got no joy - not sure where to go from here to get valuation done

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I've heard it all now- local valuers can' t value? That is a bit rich!

I know - as I said above I was told - land value depends on the market - and land hardly ever comes up for sale here so its hard to say.. I kid you not! I thought that was an awful strange answer myself but dont have experience in this area at all just what I can research myself.
Now that I know that the valuations are so vital to all this I will go looking again and this time not take the crap answers - thank you for your help Vanilla Im sorry it was long winded - I will probably be back whenever - if ever I get the valuations! Will go to the next town where mabye i will be taken more seriously by the valuers. Anyway the revenue commissioners will probably need a copy of valuations based on your posts so i need to be more persistent.

The transfer from joint names into sole names will also trigger CGT on any gain in value of the land since it was acquired.

Hi again - I know it’s a year later but Im back with what I hope is all the relevant information now and would really be very grateful for your opinions please. I decided it best to post again in my original thread. Land has now been measured and valued see below.


6.1 acres bought in 2001 by A (father) and B (daughter) for 158,971.20 euro plus stamp duty paid of 9538.27 euro. Ownership registered as tenants in common all 6.1 acres.

2001/2002 Planning permission obtained for one house on half acre by B, house build through mortgage in Bs name with A as guarantor. A becomes ill (forced retirement) therefore from 2001 to 2003 B pays A 180,000 mostly financed by a personal loan to B (value 127,000 plus interest) from a third party who is not related.
What is required now is three separate conveyances to try and sort out this mess;

1) Transfer from A+B to B of 1 acre valued at 175,000 – on this acre sits Bs house - valued separately now at 350,000 financed by B only see above but built on the land owned by both.Total house and land 525000.


2) Transfer from A+B to B 4.6 acres valued at 138,000
3) Transfer from A+B to A 0.5 acres valued at 15,000

I would be grateful for opinions on Stamp Duty Due, Capital Gains due and anything else which may be due Im not aware of!! Also I need to know what way is the value of the house treated and as solicitor says a father/child transfer of a one acre site of this value would not incur sd or cg tax but can this apply now that the house is built? For the record the house is Bs principal private residence since 2002

B needs to get the house onto one acre in its own right in sole ownership in order to remortgage now to pay off the personal loan to the third party. Remortgage approval has been granted but this is one of the conditions of the lender - so the clock is now ticking - another year cannot pass!!! I appreciate that this is an old thread but it is still a genuine query and am anxious now that I have the new valuations and a clear idea of what is needed to find out how much this will cost as really cannot afford to make a mistake on this now.

Thank you for your help and patience with this one.

xx