Legal experts have urged families living in houses owned by deceased relatives to urgently register and transfer estates, warning that failure to do so could complicate ownership claims under Zimbabwe’s ongoing Title Deeds Validation Programme.
The issue emerged during an Emakhandeni-Luveve Constituency talk show on Zimbabwe’s Title Deeds Validation Programme under Statutory Instrument 76 of 2025, where residents raised concerns about homes occupied by children and dependants following the death of parents or grandparents.
Speaking during the discussion, Sindiso Shepherd Mazibisa said many properties remain registered in the names of deceased owners because families have not completed the estate administration process.
“Most of these houses or properties are still registered in the names of people who have passed away, including grandmothers and grandfathers, and in many cases dependants never process these estates,” said Mazibisa.
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He said Zimbabwean law requires estates to be registered and administered after a person’s death.
“People should ensure estates are processed when their parents or relatives pass on. It is illegal under Zimbabwean law for an estate not to be registered on time and for properties not to be transferred. Some may say it is a family house, but it still needs legally recognised owners,” he said.
Mazibisa explained that the first step for affected families is to register the estate through the Master of the High Court or seek assistance from legal practitioners.
“The first step is for these estates to be registered. Lawyers can assist, as can the Estates Department and the Master of the High Court, to ensure the matter is properly processed. Once completed, the property can be transferred to the beneficiaries, after which the issue of title deeds can be addressed,” he said.
He urged families to act without delay.
“People should register the estates of parents, grandparents or relatives and seek assistance from registered lawyers or the Master of the High Court. It is illegal not to process an estate,” said Mazibisa.
Senior partner at R Ndlovu and Company, Robert Ndlovu, warned that families holding title deeds in the names of deceased parents risk facing legal challenges if ownership is not transferred before the validation deadline.
“If your parents are deceased and you still hold a title deed in their name, that title deed will no longer be valid after July 2027. In simple terms, you will not have a valid document proving your father owned the house. You will lose that proof because, under the law, the title deed will be invalid after 2027,” said Ndlovu.
He said this could create serious complications when beneficiaries later attempt to transfer ownership through the Master of the High Court.
“It will become difficult to proceed with ownership changes at the Master of the High Court because the document may no longer be accepted as valid. I encourage anyone with property registered in the names of deceased parents to urgently go to the Master’s Office, wind up the estate properly, transfer the deeds into their names, and then validate them,” he said.
Ndlovu said the current validation programme focuses on title deeds that are already legally valid and registered in the names of living individuals.
“At the moment, the framework in place is aimed at validating, securitising and digitising title deeds that are valid and registered in the names of living people,” he said.
The Title Deeds Validation Programme, introduced through Statutory Instrument 76 of 2025, seeks to modernise and secure Zimbabwe’s property ownership records through the validation, digitisation and securitisation of title deeds.
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