A standard title sheet extract shows only the current position. A copy of the original title sheet with a chronology of changes contains the registration history; the district office’s cadastral department issues it on request for an administrative fee. If you need to investigate further, the owner’s legal predecessors and successors also have access to the document collection — including a buyer after the transfer.
Why is a standard title sheet extract not enough?
A title sheet extract shows the position at the date and time stated on it (Section 69(10) of the Cadastral Act, No. 162/1995 Z. z.): in other words, who owns the property today. It does not show who owned it five years ago or which document changed ownership.
Yet the history is precisely what determines whether your seller’s title is sound. Rapid successive transfers between related parties, a transfer shortly after inheritance proceedings, or a registration by record based on a document later annulled are all warning signs invisible on the current extract.
A copy of the original title sheet with a chronology of changes
The solution is a copy of the original title sheet containing earlier entries and the change numbers under which they were made. The district office’s cadastral department issues it; if the data is held electronically, any district office may provide it (Section 69(7)).
When applying, it is worth expressly requesting a copy with a chronology of changes, rather than a standard extract; otherwise you will receive the current position. An administrative fee is payable under the schedule to Act No. 145/1995 Z. z. on Administrative Fees. It is calculated for each group of up to 20 parcels, buildings, apartments or non-residential premises, including an incomplete group; the second and subsequent identical copies cost less. Check the current rate when applying, as the fee schedule changes.
If the property was transferred to this title sheet from another title sheet, the chronology starts with that transfer between sheets. Earlier history must be traced on the original title sheet. At that stage, assistance from a land registry employee is often needed to locate the original sheet using change numbers and the document collection.
Who can access the document collection?
Everyone has the right to inspect the cadastral records (Section 68(1)), but public access to the document collection is restricted. Access to documents in the collection is permitted only to the owner or another entitled person, and their legal predecessors and successors (Section 68(3)). Other bodies and persons have access for their official duties, including courts, prosecutors, the Police Force, notaries, judicial enforcement officers, tax offices, administrators under special legislation, surveyors and experts in geodesy and cartography.
The expression “legal predecessor and legal successor” is the most important, and least familiar, part for clients. It means that after the transfer, the buyer becomes a legal successor and has access to documents concerning their property, including those relating to transfers before their acquisition. Before buying, they do not yet hold that status. The solution then is the seller’s cooperation in supplying the documents, or a power of attorney.
How to read the history
Entries are linked by change numbers. The change number allows the document underlying a particular entry to be located in the document collection. The acquisition title usually states the registration proceedings number and year. This makes it possible to reconstruct when the document was submitted to the land registry and when registration actually took place. On older paper title sheets, superseded entries are crossed out with the change number marked, but remain legible.
A date stated alongside the acquisition title may not mean the same thing at every office. It may be the date of the decision permitting registration, or the date the agreement was signed. We therefore draw no conclusions from it without examining the document itself.
When is investigating the history useful?
- Before buying, if the acquisition title shows several transfers in a short period, a transfer shortly after inheritance proceedings, or a transfer between obviously related persons.
- Where a forged document is suspected. If someone claims their signature on an older agreement was forged, the first step is to establish who was actually registered as owner at that time. It often turns out that the disputed share never belonged to that person.
- In cases of duplicate ownership, when the ownership titles behind both entries are compared; see our duplicate land ownership service.
- Before a declaratory action, when the chain of title is reconstructed as a basis for evidence.
A land registry entry is not incontrovertible proof of ownership: the data is reliable and binding only until the contrary is proved (Section 70). Reconstructing the registration history is precisely the tool that can prove or rule out the contrary.
For purchases, we review the registration history as a standard part of our property purchase service. If a dispute has already arisen, our determination of ownership service covers both reconstructing the titles and conducting the proceedings.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 31 July 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
