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Q&As and counting

February 2021

Conveyancing - Nomination and common law right to direct transfer

February 2021
Sale, Purchase, Mortgage, Lease
South Australia

Asked

My client is purchasing a property and is named as a sole purchaser with the following words, "and/or nominee".

My client wishes to remove his name from the Contract and nominate his wife into the Contract for no consideration.

Can my client be nominated into the Contract by way of a direction?

If a direction is prepared, I assume the direction is not required to be stamped?

Answered

Thank you for the question.

The following is an extract from the By Lawyers Purchase of Real Property (SA) commentary:

Revenue Ruling SDA009[V2] states that unless additional consideration is being paid by the transferee a Deed of Assignment or Nomination is no longer necessary for any purchaser to direct the vendor to transfer the property to any entity, whether related or not.

The Ruling states that Revenue SA:

− Acknowledges that a purchaser named in a contract has a common law right to direct a vendor to transfer land to any party they choose and that this common law right exists whether or not the purchaser executes a contract noting ‘and/or nominee’; and

− No longer requires a letter of agency/nomination or an assignment if a purchaser named in a contract and the person named in the transfer pursuant to that contract are not the same. However, stamp duty will still be payable where an assignment document is prepared and executed or when section 68 of the Stamp Duties Act 1923 applies.

A direction is not usually liable for duty. See Revenue Ruling SDA009[V2] for further discussion.

Regards

Mentor

Sale, Purchase, Mortgage, Lease
South Australia