PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. (Week 3) General Overview and Applicable Laws to Property Law Practice - - - - - - - - - 3 2. (Week 4) Deeds and Deed of Conveyance - - - - 12 3. (Week 5) Power of Attorney - ... - - - - - 27 4. (Week 6) Contract of Sale and Conveyancing I - - - 43 5. (Week 7) Contract of Sale and Conveyancing II - - - 58 6. (Week 8) Land Registration under Lagos State Lands Registration Law-74 7. (Week 9) Leases I - - - - - - - - 81 8. (Week 10) Leases II - - - - - - - - 91 9. (Week 11) Mortgages & Charges I - - - - - 111 10. (Week 12) Mortgages and Charges II - - - - - 128 11. (Week 13) Mortgages and Charges III - - - - - 137 12. (Week 14) Solicitors Billing and Charges - - - - 147 13. (Week 15) Wills and Codicils I - - - - - - 160 14. (Week 16) Wills and Codicils II - - - - - - 171 15. (Week 17) Wills & Codicils III - - - - - - 182 16. (Week 18) Probate & Letters of Administration - - - 190 17. (Week 19) Personal Representatives & Assent - - - 198 18. (Week 20) Property Law Taxation - - - - - 206 KILLI NANCWAT – PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE (NLSE – 2018/2019) 3 (Week 3) GENERAL OVERVIEW AND APPLICABLE LAWS TO PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE MEANING AND SCOPE OF PROPERTY LAW I. Meaning of Property The word property has a variety of meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Sometimes, it may mean ownership or title such as when it is said that property in the goods passes to the buyer immediately the contract of sale is concluded whether or not the goods have been physically transferred to him. It may mean the ‘res’ (thing) over which ownership may be exercised. It may also mean an interest in a thing less than ownership but nevertheless conferring certain rights such as when it is said that ‘B’ as pledgee has ‘special property’ in the subject matter of the security – Donald v. Suckling.1 In whichever sense the word property is used, property law is designed to regulate the relation of persons to things thereby providing a secure foundation for the acquisition, enjoyment and disposal of things or wealth. Property may also mean the right of a person to something tangible and physical, such as a parcel of land. It may also relate to something intangible such as a right in a work protected by copyright. This view finds support in Section 2(1) of the Conveyancing Act 1881 which defines “property”, to include real and personal property, any estate or interest in any property, real or personal, any debt, anything in action, any other right or interest. Land is depicted to include land of any tenure, tenements, hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal and houses and other buildings, also an undivided share in land – Section 2 of the CA. This course deals basically with property transactions (conveyance) and laws applicable to tangible or real property (land, anything attached to land or any interest in land). II. Meaning of Conveyance Conveyance is the application of the law of Real Property in practice. It is not often easy to differentiate between real property law and its practice, for while the former is static, the latter is dynamic. Real property law deals with the rights and liabilities of landowners, while its practice (conveyancing) deals with the art of creating and transferring rights in land. Yet, one cannot be a good conveyance without a good grasp of real property law. Conveyancing transactions may occur in a number of situations such as sales of land, leases, and mortgages. Conveyances are described as including “assignment, appointment, lease, settlement and other assurance and covenant to surrender, made by deed, on a sale, mortgage, demise, or settlement of any property, or any other dealing with or for any property”. However, a Will is an exception to a conveyance – Section 2(1) of the PCL, 1959 - because it is ambulatory (movable), which “…distinguishes a will from a conveyance…,” the latter being “inter vivos, which operates at once or at some fixed time.” III. Property Law Practice Jurisdictions and the States Covered By Each 1. Property and Conveyancing Law 1959: applicable to the old Western Nigeria - Edo, Delta, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States. 2. Conveyancing Act 1882: applicable to the old Eastern (Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra) and old Northern States (Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, etc.) and some parts of Lagos. Note that CA applies to some parts of Lagos, but when it comes to mortgages, in Lagos CA no longer applies. The applicable laws in Lagos for mortgages are: Mortgage and Property Law of Lagos (MPL) and RTL. 1 (1866) LR 1QB, 585 KILLI NANCWAT – PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE (NLSE – 2018/2019) 4 3. Registration of Titles Law of Lagos State 2003: applicable to most parts of Lagos (Ikoyi, Lagos Island, Obalende, Victoria Island, Ebutte-Metta, some parts of Mushin, Yaba, Badagry, Apapa, Gbagada, Surulere, and Somolu). However, this law has been repealed by virtue of Section 122 Land Registration Law Lagos State 2014. APPLICABLE LAWS I. Customary Law This is a set of rules of conduct applying to persons and things in a particular locality, which exist at the relevant and material time and is recognised and adhered to by the inhabitants of the community as binding on them. Custom is usually a question of fact which is required to be pleaded and proved by witnesses in any legal proceeding – Olubodun v. Lawal;2 Odutola v. Sanya.3 These rules and customs vary from one society to another. The simple requirements of payment of the purchase price; the presence of witnesses; and allowing the buyer into possession, are sufficient elements for sale under native law and custom in Nigeria. Once these 3 elements exist, a valid sale could be said to have taken place – Adesanya v. Aderonmu.4 However, the provisions of the CA and PCL do not regulate customary transactions of land – See Olubodun v. Lawal (supra) where the SC held that the trial court erred in admitting such a document (a letter written by their ancestors tendered by the plaintiff) in evidence. II. Islamic Law Islamic law is one of the sources of law applied by the courts in Nigeria to regulate legal relationships especially by and among adherents of the Islamic faith or where the parties are not of Islamic faith, but consent to the application of Islamic law to regulate their relationship. See Section 277(1) CFRN 1999. Islamic law is founded on the provisions of the Koran and the Hadith (primary sources of Islamic law) which regulate the facets of life of Muslim. Transactions relating to property such as succession, wills, gifts, rights, obligations and interest in land are regulated by Islamic law and applied by the courts in Nigeria. For instance, the distribution of the estate of a deceased Muslim is set by Islamic Law and compliance is mandatory. See Abdulsalad v Abdulahi.5 III. Case Law These are decisions of the courts and opinions expressed by jurists in respect [Show More]

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