In this article, we will explain how to buy properties for your underage children. A parent bought a landed property in the name of his 10 years old child and the child's name is clearly written as the buyer of the property on the land's document. What does the law say about buying landed properties for minors?
Do you know that such land document can be challenged by opposition and rendered invalid? You see, ignorance of the law cannot save you from being burnt by the fire of the law.
Here is an excerpt from the Land Use Act:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 21 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔:
𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕-
(𝒂) 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 21 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒆;
(𝒃) 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 21 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎.”
𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
This law basically says that you have to be 21 or older to officially hold land rights in Nigeria.
Here's the breakdown:
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲: If you have an adult looking after your affairs (parent or guardian) or managing property for you (trustee), they can hold the land rights on your behalf until you turn 21.
Inheritance: If someone (maybe your parent) who already has land rights dies and leaves them to you. Even though you're under 21, you inherit those rights automatically. You'll still be responsible for following the rules about using the land, just like an adult.
How to Buy Properties for your Underage Children
- Buy the property in your name and prepare a Will (yes, I know you won't die now) indicating that the property should be given to the child when you're gone.
- After buying the property in your name, when the child turns 21, prepare a Deed of Gift to transfer ownership right of the property to the child
So, when buying landed properties for minors, you need to follow what the law says to avoid losing your money.
You shouldn't learn this alone. Share with your loved ones to save them from making costly mistakes when investing in real estate. You can reach out to us when you need genuine land or you want us to assist you with documentation.
You can also read our blog post on Different Types of C of O in Nigeria. Download my e-book titled “Real Estate Investing for Beginners”. You can also order here.
If you have further questions or inquiries, you can chat with us on WhatsApp or call 2348100956957.