Title to real estate arises not when the contract is signed but when it is registered by the state (Art. 182 of the Civil Code, Law No. 1952-IV). So every transaction in housing or commercial property comes down to one question: will the register entry survive scrutiny in a year, in five years, in ten — and will someone turn up wanting it cancelled.
The most expensive mistakes happen before any court: a flat is bought without checking encumbrances, a house is extended without documents, an inherited share goes unregistered for years. Putting such a mistake right costs many times more than checking before the deal.
A real estate lawyer is there so the deal is irreversible and the property is yours on the documents, not merely in fact.
What we work on
Transactions and registration
- Drawing up a sale contract: checking the property, drafting the contract, attendance at the notary
- Property valuation
- Privatising a flat: free privatisation has a statutory deadline
Protecting title
- Establishing title: where the documents are missing or the register says otherwise
- Cancelling unlawful registration actions, recovering property that has been taken
- Disputes with heirs, co-owners and developers
Construction and legalisation
- Building permit
- Regularising houses: unauthorised construction under Art. 376 of the Civil Code
- Regularising alterations
Commercial property
- Small-scale privatisation through Prozorro
- Leases, easements, disputes with developers
Checking a property before you buy: what exactly we look at
Audit checklist
- Who the real owner is: an extract from the State Register of Property Rights and the full history of title. A chain of three resales in six months is a warning sign.
- Encumbrances and attachments: mortgage, tax lien, attachments in enforcement and criminal proceedings, bans on disposal.
- Litigation: checking the seller and the property in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions and the register of debtors.
- Third-party rights: registered occupants, rights of use (easement, tenancy), a life maintenance contract.
- The spouse’s consent. Property acquired during a marriage is jointly owned, and selling it requires the other spouse’s notarised consent (Art. 65 of the Family Code). Without it the deal is successfully challenged, and the buyer loses both flat and money.
- Children’s rights. If a child is registered at the property or has a right to use it, the guardianship authority’s consent is required. Its absence is one of the commonest grounds for setting a sale aside.
- The seller’s insolvency. If proceedings are open against them, the deal can be declared invalid as harmful to creditors, even years later.
- Technical documentation: whether the actual layout matches the papers. Unauthorised alterations become the buyer’s problem after completion.
Unauthorised construction and alterations
A building put up without documents does not legally exist: it cannot be sold, given away, inherited or mortgaged (Art. 376 of the Civil Code). The landowner can also be ordered to demolish it at their own expense.
Legalisation is possible, and it is usually this service that brings us owners of houses built by eye in the 2000s. What has to be done depends on whether the building meets the construction standards, whether the land is yours, and whether the neighbours’ rights are affected. Some buildings can be commissioned administratively; others only through a court, with title established by judgment.
Altering a flat without approval blocks a sale: a removed load-bearing wall or a relocated bathroom ends in an order to restore the previous state, and no bank will lend against such a home.
When you do not need a lawyer
Buying a flat in a new development from a major developer, with clean papers and a bank mortgage where the bank checks the property itself, is fine with just a notary. The consultation then ends with a list of clauses worth reading in the contract, and no engagement.
A real estate lawyer is needed when:
- the property is on the secondary market and you do not know its history;
- the price is well below market;
- the seller is married, has children or has debts;
- the property was inherited or obtained by court judgment;
- the matter concerns land, a house or a commercial property;
- someone else’s ownership entry has appeared in the register against your property;
- something built or altered needs regularising.
A case from our practice
In 2025 a family came to us having already paid a deposit on a two-room flat on the Left Bank. The register extract was clean, but during the audit we saw that the seller had obtained title by a judgment that had been overturned on appeal, and that a claim to recover this very flat was live in the court decisions register. We produced a written opinion, the buyers pulled out, and the deposit was returned twofold under the terms of the preliminary contract. The whole check took two working days and cost the clients the price of a legal audit. (details changed)
How we work
- A legal audit of the property: registers, encumbrances, the history of title, litigation, the seller’s status.
- A risk assessment: a written opinion listing what could turn into a claim, with recommendations.
- Structuring the deal: the contract, payment arrangements, warranties, penalties.
- Attendance at the notary and oversight of the registration of title.
- Litigation: establishing title, cancelling unlawful entries, recovering property, disputes with developers.
Cost of services
The court fee, the notary’s charges, valuations, technical documentation and construction expert reports are paid separately. Court fees in 2026 in property disputes: an individual’s monetary claim — 1 % of its value within 1,331.20 to 16,640 UAH; a non-monetary claim (cancelling a register entry, declaring a contract invalid without seeking recovery of the property) — 1,331.20 UAH; for a company, 1.5 % of the value. Through the Electronic Court the rate is 20 % lower.
Calculate the court fee in a property dispute
Non-monetary claims (cancelling a register entry) carry a flat fee of 1,331.20 UAH.
Questions and answers (real estate lawyer)
Can I get a register extract myself?
Yes. An owner sees information about their own property free of charge in the Ministry of Justice’s e-services portal and in the Diia app; anyone else obtains an extract for an administrative fee. But such an extract shows the current position only; the history of title, litigation, enforcement proceedings and the seller’s status are checked separately across several registers.
The seller changed their mind after taking the deposit. Can anything be recovered?
If the contract calls the sum a deposit rather than an advance, and the deal failed through the fault of the party who received it, they return double (Arts. 570, 571 of the Civil Code). The word “advance” in a receipt does not produce that result: an advance is simply returned. So the wording of the preliminary contract matters more than the sum.
The deal is to be done under a power of attorney. How risky is that?
The risk is that the power may have been revoked or given under pressure. We check it in the Unified Register of Powers of Attorney as at the date of the deal, establish that the principal is alive and has capacity, and check that no insolvency has begun. In difficult cases we insist on the owner attending in person or on payment through a notary’s deposit.
Someone else’s entry has been registered against my property. What do I do?
Act at once: block further registration actions, challenge the registrar’s decision before the Ministry of Justice or in court, and seek cancellation of the entry. An application for interim relief goes in at the same time so the property is not resold on. The more resales go through, the harder it is to recover.
How long does a property dispute take?
A simple case, 6–10 months at first instance. Disputes involving a construction or valuation expert report, or several defendants, 12–18 months, with an appeal adding another three to six.
Is property bought during a marriage divided on divorce?
Yes, it is jointly owned regardless of whose name it is in. The details are on the page about dividing property.
Contact a Svarog real estate lawyer
Describe the property and the situation: we will check the registers, find the risks an extract does not show, and tell you whether to buy or to look for another flat. An audit before the deal costs an order of magnitude less than challenging it afterwards.