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CIVIL CODE OF SAINT LUCIA
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CHAPTER SECOND RULES PARTICULAR TO DIFFERENT TITLES BY WHICH REAL RIGHTS ARE ACQUIRED

Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2022)

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CHAPTER SECOND
RULES PARTICULAR TO DIFFERENT TITLES BY WHICH REAL RIGHTS ARE ACQUIRED

  1.  

    1980.   All acts inter vivos, conveying the ownership, nuda proprietas or usufruct of an immovable must be registered at length or by an abstract hereinafter called a memorial.

  1.  

    In default of such registration, the title of conveyance cannot be invoked against any third party who has purchased the same property or received an onerous gift of it from the same vendor or donor for a valuable consideration and whose title is registered.

  1.  

    Every conveyance by will of the ownership, nuda proprietas or usufruct of an immovable must be registered either at length or by memorial, with a declaration of the date of the death of the testator and the designation of the immovable.

  1.  

    The transmission of the ownership, nuda proprietas or usufruct of an immovable by succession must be registered by means of a declaration setting forth the name of the heir, his or her degree of relationship to the deceased, the name of the latter, the date of his or her death, and the designation of the immovable.

  1.  

    Provided always that all acts inter vivos purporting to convey the ownership, nuda proprietas or usufruct of an immovable shall be null and void, unless prior to the execution of such acts the title of the person or persons purporting to make such conveyance shall have been registered; but this proviso shall not annul or render void any act whereby the Crown purports to make any such conveyance, or in any manner whatsoever affect any right of the Crown. (Substituted by Act 10 of 1904)

  1.  

    1981.   Persons conveying immovables by sale, gift or exchange preserve all their rights and privileges by registering the deed of alienation within 15 days from its date, even against persons registering their rights between the dates of such deed and of its registration.

  1.  

    The right of the vendor to take back an immovable sold, in the case of non-payment of the price, does not affect subsequent purchasers who have not subjected themselves to such right, unless the deed in which it is stipulated has been registered as in ordinary cases; nevertheless the vendor in this matter as well as for securing the price has all the advantage of the delay of 15 days.

  1.  

    1982.   All judgments declaring the dissolution, nullity, or rescission of a registered deed of conveyance or other title by which an immovable has been transmitted, or permitting the exercise of a right of redemption or of revocation, must be registered at length within 15 days after they are rendered.

  1.  

    1983.   The action of the vendor to have the sale dissolved by reason of the non-payment of the price, according to article 1446, cannot be brought against third parties, if the stipulation to that effect have not been registered.

  1.  

    The same rule applies to the right of redemption.

  1.  

    1984.   The privilege of the builder dates only from the registration of the statement establishing the condition of the premises, as required in the Book respecting Privileges and Hypothecs, and takes effect against other registered claims by means only of its registration within 15 days, after the date of the second statement establishing the valuation and acceptance of the works done.

  1.  

    1985.   The privilege of co-partitioners, as well for the payment of differences as for the other rights resulting from partition, is preserved by the registration of the deed of partition within 15 days from its date.

  1.  

    1986.   The same delay is allowed coheirs and co-legatees for the registration of the rights and privileges accruing to them under acts of judgments of licitation.

  1.  

    1987.   Creditors and legatees claiming separation of property preserve a right of preference upon the estate of their deceased debtor, against the creditors of the heirs or legal representatives of the latter, provided they register within 6 months after the death of their debtor the rights which they have against his or her succession.

  1.  

    Such registration is effected by means of a notice specifying the nature and amount of their claims and describing any immovables affected thereby.

  1.  

    1988.   Claims for funeral expenses and expenses of last illness do not retain their privilege upon immovables unless a memorial of such claims is registered in the manner and within the delay prescribed by the preceding article.

  1.  

    1989.   Fiduciary substitutions in respect of immovables contained in deeds of gift inter vivos are subject to the general rules mentioned in article 1980 as regards third parties whose real rights upon such immovables have been registered.

  1.  

    As regards all other interested parties the registration of substitutions takes effect according to the provisions contained in the Book concerning Gifts.

  1.  

    1990.   If the substitution be created by will, it is subject as regards registration to the provisions hereinafter set forth in respect of wills.

  1.  

    1991.   All rights of ownership resulting from wills, and all special hypothecs therein declared, are preserved and take their full effect by means of their registration within 6 months from the death of the testator, if he die within the limits of Saint Lucia, or within 2 years from such decease, if it occur beyond such limits.

  1.  

    1992.   In the case of the concealment, suppression or contestation of a will, or of any other difficulty, persons interested, who, without negligence or participation on their part, are disabled from effecting its registration within the delay prescribed by the preceding article, may nevertheless preserve their right by registering within the same delay a statement of such contestation or other impediment, and registering the will within 6 months after it or its probate has been obtained, or after the removal of the impediment.

  1.  

    1993.   Nevertheless the registration of the statement mentioned in the preceding article has no retroactive effect unless the will be registered within 5 years from the death of the testator.

  1.  

    1994.   Married men of full age are bound to register, without delay, the hypothecs and incumbrances to which their immovables are subject in favour of their wives. In default they are liable to damages and also to indictment for misdemeanor.

  1.  

    1995.   If the married man be a minor, his father, mother, or tutor, who consented to his marriage, is bound to effect the registration mentioned in the preceding article, on pain of being held liable for all damages in favour of the wife.

  1.  

    1996.   

    1.  

      (1)     The sole or principal notary who received the contract of marriage, or the declaration under the proviso to article 1180, and the husband, are bound to cause it to be registered at the expense of the spouses within one month after the marriage ceremony or the making of the declaration, as the case may be.

    1.  

      (2)     In default the husband is liable summarily on the complaint of any person to a penalty of $96 for every month it remains unregistered unless he or she proves to the satisfaction of the Court that the notary was supplied with funds for the purpose and the notary who has been supplied with funds for the purpose is also liable similarly to a like penalty on default.

  1.  

    The Court may award the complainant a portion of the penalty not exceeding ½. (Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

  1.  

    1997.   

    1.  

      (1)     A notary must also within one month after the execution of a contract of marriage or a declaration before him or her as sole or principal notary deliver a certificate to the Registrar of Deeds (in such form as the Registrar may prescribe or approve) stating the date of the contract, its place of execution, the full names of the spouses, and whether they were married in separation or community of property.

    1.  

      (2)     In default such notary is liable summarily on the complaint of any person to a penalty of $96 for every month such certificate is undelivered.

  1.  

    The Court may award the complainant a portion of the penalty not exceeding ½.

    1.  

      (3)     No fee is to be charged in the Registry for filing the certificate. (Substituted by Act 34 of 1956)

  1.  

    1998.   Tutors to minors, and curators to interdicted persons are bound to register, without delay, the hypothecs to which their real estate is subject in favour of such minors or interdicted persons, under the pains hereinabove declared against married men in article 1994.

  1.  

    1999.    (Repealed by Act 34 of 1956)

  1.  

    2000.   Every notary called upon to make an inventory is bound to see that the tutorships of the minors, or the curatorships of the interdicted persons interested in such inventories are duly registered, and, if necessary, to cause such registration to be effected at the expense of such tutors or curators, before proceeding with the inventory, on pain of all damages.

  1.  

    2001.   The hypothec of minors against their tutor or of interdicted persons against their curator has effect only from the registration of the act constituting the tutorship or curatorship.

  1.  

    2002.   The judgments and judicial acts of the civil courts confer hypothecs from the date of their registration. But an order of the Judge authorising the amount of advances or supplies under article 1904, must be registered within 5 days of the date of the order. (Substituted by Act 4 of 1908)

  1.  

    2003.   Registration of a deed of sale secures to the vendor, in the same order of preference as for the principal, the interest for 5 years besides what is due upon the current year.

  1.  

    2004.   Registration of a deed constituting a life-rent or other rent preserves a preference for the arrears of 5 years besides what are due upon the current year.

  1.  

    2005.   Registration of any other claim preserves the same right of preference for the interest of only 3 years besides what is due upon the current year.

  1.  

    2006.   The creditor has a hypothec for the remainder of the arrears of interest or of rent from the date only of the registration of a claim or memorial specifying the amount of arrears due and claimed.

  1.  

    Nevertheless the arrears of interest due at the time of the first registration and therein specified are preserved by such registration.

  1.  

    2007.   Renunciations of dower, of successions, of legacies, or of community of property cannot be pleaded against third parties unless they have been registered.

  1.  

    2008.   Every conveyance or transfer, whether voluntary or judicial, of a privileged or hypothecary claim must be registered.

  1.  

    A duplicate of the certificate of its registration must be furnished to the debtor together with the copy of the transfer.

  1.  

    If these formalities be not observed the conveyance or transfer is without effect against subsequent transferees who have conformed to the above requirements.

  1.  

    All subrogations in such rights granted by authentic deeds or by private writings must likewise be registered and notice thereof be given.

  1.  

    If the subrogation take place by the sole operation of law, it may be registered by transcribing the document from which it results, with a declaration to that effect.

  1.  

    The transfer or subrogation must be mentioned in the margin of the registry of the title creating the debt, with a reference to the number of the entry of such transfer or subrogation.

  1.  

    2009.   The lease of an immovable for a period exceeding one year cannot be pleaded against a subsequent purchaser unless it has been registered.

  1.  

    2010.   No deed containing a discharge from the rent of an immovable for more than one year in anticipation, can be pleaded against a subsequent purchaser unless it has been registered, together with a description of the immovable.

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