According to ÚGKK’s interpretation, yes. The law allows an encumbrance to require the owner to take positive action, and ÚGKK considers this to include providing personal care to a specifically identified person. Once registered, the obligation is borne by every subsequent owner of the house, not just the child receiving the gift. The scope of care must be described in the contract with sufficient precision for the Land Registry to register it and to make clear what care the owner must provide.
Parents gift their house to their child and agree that they will live there for the rest of their lives and that the child will care for them when they need it. A right of residence is commonly registered in the Land Register as an encumbrance. When it comes to care, families ask whether it can be secured just as firmly or whether it will remain merely a promise between parent and child.
An encumbrance can also require positive action
Encumbrances restrict the owner of immovable property by requiring them to tolerate something, refrain from something or take positive action (Section 151n(1) of the Civil Code). The law does not specify what that action may involve.
In Cadastral Bulletin 1/2022, the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority (ÚGKK) takes the view that an encumbrance may also require the owner to provide personal care to a specifically identified person. The Authority’s reasoning is that care is provided on a recurring basis and is owed by whoever owns the house at the time, not just the person who signed the contract. In 2003 and 2004, ÚGKK took the opposite view and regarded care solely as a personal obligation of the gift recipient. It withdrew those answers in 2022. For cadastral departments, this is interpretative guidance from their superior authority, but it is not binding on a court.
What this means for the next owner of the house
If the encumbrance is registered in the Land Register, the obligation burdens the house and passes to every subsequent owner. If the gift recipient sells the house or gives it to someone else, the new owner becomes responsible for providing the care. The advantage for the parent is that selling the house does not extinguish the obligation. However, it may be performed by a stranger, and any dispute over its scope will be with that person. Both the buyer and the bank will see the encumbrance on the title sheet, which may affect the house’s price and financing.
An encumbrance created for the benefit of a particular person ends no later than that person’s death (Section 151p(4)). Circumstances may change while it remains in effect, for example if the parent needs specialist care that cannot be provided at home and must instead be provided in a care facility. In such a situation, the law allows a court to substitute a monetary payment for performance in kind.
The following quotation is reproduced in its original language:
Ak pre zmenu pomerov nemožno spravodlivo trvať na vecnom plnení, môže súd rozhodnúť, aby sa namiesto vecného plnenia poskytovalo peňažné plnenie.
The contract can provide for such a situation in advance, for example by specifying that the owner will contribute to the cost of the parent’s stay in a facility instead of providing personal care. The family then need not rely solely on how a court might decide.
How to describe the care in the contract
When considering registration, the cadastral department examines whether the parties’ expressions of intention are sufficiently precise and comprehensible (Section 31(1) of the Cadastral Act). A general statement that the gift recipient will “care for the parent” is therefore risky. The contract should specify in particular:
- who will receive the care,
- exactly what it includes, such as meals, cleaning, shopping, accompanying the parent to medical appointments or assistance with personal hygiene,
- where it will be provided and to what extent,
- whether the owner may arrange for another person or service provider to deliver it and who will pay for it,
- what applies if the beneficiary moves into a social care facility or is admitted to hospital.
The right corresponding to the encumbrance arises only upon registration in the Land Register (Section 151o(1)). Care is therefore usually agreed in a single contract together with the gift and the right of residence, so that everything can be registered in the same proceedings. We explain how to prepare such a contract in gifting a house with a lifetime right of residence.
An encumbrance or only the child’s personal obligation?
Care can also be agreed solely as an obligation of the gift recipient in the gift agreement. Such an obligation binds only that recipient, not a subsequent owner of the house. The donor may seek the return of the gift if the recipient behaves towards the donor or members of the donor’s family in a manner that grossly violates accepted standards of morality (Section 630 of the Civil Code). Whether failure to provide the agreed care amounts to such conduct will be assessed by the court in light of the circumstances of the individual case. We explain when this may apply in gifting property and seeking the return of the gift. The more suitable approach depends on the family’s circumstances, whether a sale of the house is envisaged and how far the parent needs to be able to rely on a future owner.
How we can help
We will prepare a gift agreement creating an encumbrance covering both residence and care, with a precise description of its scope and rules for changes in circumstances. We will submit the application for registration in the Land Register so that the gift and the encumbrance are registered simultaneously.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 3 October 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.
