A transfer of equity changes who is registered as owner without a sale on the open market — adding a spouse or partner, removing a former partner after a separation, or adding or removing a family member. Mechanically it is a deed. Practically it usually turns on the bank.
Agreement, and Then the Lender
The first hurdle is agreement or a court order. You cannot remove a co-owner from the deeds without their consent or an order of the court, and that is absolute — no amount of contribution history changes it. The second, and the one that most often decides whether the transaction can happen at all, is the lender’s consent. Where there is a mortgage, the bank must agree, and it will normally want the outgoing party formally released from the loan and the remaining or incoming party assessed. That is a lending decision rather than a legal one, and it is the point at which many of these transactions stop: a remaining owner who cannot service the loan alone on the bank’s criteria will not get consent, whatever the parties have agreed between themselves. It is worth establishing the lender’s position early, because everything else is wasted effort if the answer there is no. Note also that being taken off the deeds and being released from the mortgage are different things — and a person removed from the title while still on the loan has the worst of both.
Two Common Situations
After a separation or divorce, the property arrangements normally form part of the wider settlement and belong with it. The conveyancing implements an agreement; it does not substitute for one, and attempting to deal with the house in isolation from maintenance, pensions and everything else usually produces a poor outcome. That side of things runs through divorcesolicitor.ie. Adding a spouse, partner or family member raises different questions: whether the property will then be held as joint tenants or tenants in common, which determines what happens on a death; whether the person joining is taking on the mortgage; and, where this is effectively a gift of an interest, the tax and succession consequences — which belong with your accountant and Revenue before anything is signed. In both situations the title is investigated again, and a remortgage or transfer is frequently where a long-dormant problem finally surfaces: an extension without planning compliance, or a first registration never completed.
Ask the bank first. Whether the lender will release one party and accept the other is the question that determines everything else, and it is answerable before any legal work begins.
Changing who is on the deeds? 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & TEP
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors, established 1981, with an office at 2 Rose Inn Street in Kilkenny city centre and a second office in Dublin. The firm handles residential and rural conveyancing across Kilkenny and the south-east — buying, selling, sites and farmland, family transfers, remortgages and transfers of equity. Richard is a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, which matters more in conveyancing than people expect: a great many property transactions in Kilkenny arise out of an estate, a family transfer or a succession plan, and those need both sides handled together. Nothing here is tax advice — stamp duty and any gift or inheritance tax questions belong with your accountant and Revenue. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about conveyancing and property law in Ireland. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every transaction turns on its own facts — the title, the planning position, the lender’s requirements and the contract — and advice on yours requires a consultation.
Nothing here is tax advice. Stamp duty, Local Property Tax, capital gains on a sale, and any gift or inheritance tax arising on a family transfer are matters for your accountant or tax adviser and for Revenue’s own guidance. This firm does not advise on tax and states no rate, threshold, relief or condition anywhere on this site. Where a scheme such as Help to Buy or the First Home Scheme is mentioned, the eligibility rules and limits are set by Revenue and the scheme administrators and change from time to time — confirm the current position directly with them.
No valuation, survey or financial advice. This firm does not value property, does not advise on price, and is not a surveyor, engineer or mortgage adviser. A solicitor’s investigation of title is not a structural survey and is not a substitute for one, and no legal work will tell you whether a property is sound or whether the price is right.
Never both sides of the same transaction. The firm acts for buyers and, in separate transactions, for sellers — but not for both parties to the same sale. Conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion, which is why the first contact should identify the property and every party involved.
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