Property for a child without unnecessary bureaucracy: Ukraine has changed the rules for registering donated housing and transport
For children living in wartime, the right to housing, transportation, or other significant property is of particular importance, as families are often forced to quickly organize documents, re-register property, or protect a child’s property rights after forced relocation, losses, or changes in family circumstances. The new law simplifies some of these procedures, leaving control where there is a risk of worsening the child’s situation.
What the law on simplified property registration provides
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed Law No. 4824-IX, prepared on the basis of draft law No. 12254. As reported by the Ministry of Justice, the document changes the procedure for acquiring property by children and removes one of the bureaucratic requirements in cases where a child receives property free of charge.
Previously, notaries required prior permission from the guardianship and trusteeship authority to register a donated apartment, house, car, or other property for a child. This procedure increased the number of documents and delayed registration, even if the property was transferred to the child without any financial obligations.
The new rules provide that permission from the guardianship authority will no longer be required when a child acquires property free of charge. Such cases include donations, privatization of housing used by the child, as well as registration of ownership of real estate, unfinished construction sites, or vehicles.
Written consent from parents or legal representatives remains mandatory. The law will enter into force one month after its official publication, after which notarization of such transactions must take place according to the updated procedure.
How the procedure will work for children of different ages
For minors under 14 years of age, contracts will be signed by parents or legal representatives. In such cases, a written notarized consent of both parents is required, since a child of this age does not yet personally participate in concluding the contract.
Teenagers from 14 to 18 years old will be able to personally sign documents, but only with the notarized consent of their parents. This procedure preserves the participation of the child himself in the registration of property, but leaves legal control on the part of adults responsible for his interests.
When the consent of one parent may not be required
The law provides for certain situations in which a transaction is allowed to be registered without the consent of one of the parents. This is possible if he is in captivity, has disappeared, is interned, or has not participated in raising the child for more than six months.
For families that the war has put in difficult circumstances, this norm may have practical significance, since the registration of property for the child will not be blocked due to the absence of one of the parents in cases provided for by law.
The simplification applies only to situations in which the child receives property as ownership. If parents plan to sell, exchange, mortgage or otherwise dispose of property that already belongs to the child, the permission of the guardianship and trusteeship authority remains mandatory.
Such permission is needed to protect the child’s housing and property rights so that adults cannot make a decision that will worsen his or her situation. Thus, the law removes unnecessary procedures when acquiring property, while at the same time preserving safeguards for transactions that may deprive the child of property.
