SERV - Secure Electronic Registries Victoria
Land Registry Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most common land registration questions.
The responses below are general in nature, do not constitute legal advice, and may not be appropriate or cover all relevant matters for your circumstances.
We highly recommend that you consult with an Australian Legal Practitioner or Licensed Conveyancer when dealing with land.
Covenant – Variation or Removal
There are two options available to you.
Option one:
If you have a Deed of agreement (between the owner of the burdened land and all of the owners of the benefitted lands) or a Court Order, you will likely need to prepare and lodge an application to Record a Restrictive Covenant is Varied or Released (section 88(1)(b), Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). This form will need to be submitted to SERV.
Application to Record a Restrictive Covenant is Varied or Released
Option two:
If you have a Planning Permit issued by a Council, you will likely need to prepare and lodge a Restriction Creation, Removal or Variation application (section 23, Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic)). This form will need to be submitted to Land Use Victoria.
Converting an Electronic Certificate of Title to a Paper Certificate of Title
The control of an electronic title is held by a solicitor or conveyancer. If you wish to receive a paper copy, your legal representative will likely need to complete an application to Convert an Electronic Certificate of Title to a paper Certificate of Title (CECT). Please note that this must be submitted to SERV via email at advice.enquiries@servictoria.com.au.
Application to Convert an Electronic Certificate of Title to a paper Certificate of Title (CECT)
Damaged Title
If a Certificate of Title is damaged, you will need to complete and lodge an Application for New Folio of the Register (Section 32, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)).
Application for New Folio of the Register
Deceased Estate
There are several steps in this process. First, you will likely need to obtain a Grant of Probate. Please contact the Victorian Probate Office for more information about this process. Their address is:
Level 2, 436 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: 03 8600 2000
Email: probate@supcourt.vic.gov.au
Once the Probate is granted, you should consider preparing and lodging an Application by Legal Personal Representative (Section 49, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). The purpose of this form is to move the title into your name, as the Executor of the Will.
Application by Legal Personal Representative
Guide to Application by Legal Personal Representative
If you wish to transfer the property to the beneficiaries under the Will, you should consider preparing and lodging a Transfer of Land form to transfer it from yourself (as Executor of the Will) to the beneficiaries. All parties must sign the transfer form and all signatures must be duly witnessed.
Application for a Transfer of Land
You will likely need to prepare and lodge an Application by Surviving Proprietor (Section 50, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)).
Lodgement
The length of time taken to examine and register a dealing depends on the nature of the dealing itself. Some dealings are simple and easy to process but others are complex and will take much longer. Generally, once the application form and all required documents are correctly lodged, it will be registered as soon as possible.
Please allow 30 days from the date it was issued for it to be delivered.
If this timeframe has passed, please email us at advice.enquiries@servictoria.com.au or
call us on 03 9102 0401.
Please note that if a Discharge of Mortgage has recently been registered on your title by your financial institution, it does not automatically issue you a Certificate of Title. Contact your financial institution to request this free service.
Our Forms and Guides page provides appropriate forms for various land transactions. Please refer to the relevant guide when preparing the form.
Please contact PEXA directly on 1300 084 515 or you can email them at support@pexa.com.au.
PEXA is open for support between 8:30am-8pm AEDT.
Lost title
You will likely need to complete and lodge an Application for a new Certificate of Title in place of one that is lost or destroyed (Section 31, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). To meet the eligibility requirements to lodge this application, you will need to provide evidence that exhaustive searches have been performed in trying to find the title. For more information, please see the guides below.
Application for a new Certificate of Title in place of one that is lost or destroyed
Professionals lodging on behalf of a client
- Guide to replacing a lost or destroyed Certificate of Title (professionals)
- Statutory Declaration: Certificate of Title lost or destroyed (professionals)
Individuals lodging without representation
Personal Details
It is likely that you will need to prepare and lodge a Transfer of Land form (Section 45, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). This process is usually undertaken by a conveyancer or solicitor. All parties must sign the form and have each signature duly witnessed.
Application for a Transfer of Land
Guide to transferring property between spouses or domestic partners
To change the address of a registered proprietor, you will likely need to prepare and lodge an Application for Amendment or Alteration of Registered Proprietor’s Address (Section 113(5), Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)).
Application for Amendment or Alteration of Registered Proprietor's Address
Many of the property transactions and dealings outlined on this page require you to produce your title in either paper or electronic format. If you do not have your title details, you can search for them via LANDATA®.
To change your name, you will likely need to prepare and lodge an Application for New Folio of the Register (Section 32, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). To lodge this application, you will need to provide evidence of the change of name. For more information, please see the Guide to lodging an application for New Folio of the Register.
To change the ownership of a property from two names to one name, you will likely need to prepare a Transfer of Land (Section 45, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). This process is usually undertaken by a conveyancer or solicitor. All parties must sign the form and have each signature duly witnessed.
To add another person onto your title, you will likely need to prepare a Transfer of Land (Section 45, Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic)). This process is usually undertaken by a conveyancer or solicitor. All parties must sign the form and have each signature duly witnessed.
Application for a Transfer of Land
Guide to transferring property between spouses or domestic partners
Power of Attorney
There is currently no process for registering Power of Attorney documents in Victoria.
Privacy
We value our customers and recognise your right to keep personal information private. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and disclose your personal information and how to access, correct or raise concerns about the handling of your personal information. You can access the policy via the button below.
SERV Privacy PolicyWe take privacy seriously and respect your privacy rights. If you:
- want to gain access to your personal information;
- think that any personal information we hold is inaccurate and want to correct it;
- have any queries, or wish to make a complaint, about the way we handle your personal information; or
- would like a copy of our Privacy Policy,
please contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@servictoria.com.au.
Troubleshooting
The only way to access and use the forms is to download a copy to your computer and open it using the latest version of Adobe Reader.
Follow these steps:
- Locate the form you wish to use. Download a copy to your computer by it by right-clicking (or control + click on a Mac) and selecting “Save link as…” or “Save target as…” (The exact wording depends on your internet browser). We recommend you save the form to your desktop or downloads folder, so you can easily find it.
- Download and install the latest version of Adobe Reader (if it’s not already installed on your computer).
- Open the folder location where you saved the form (e.g. your desktop or downloads folder). If you can’t find it, use the windows explorer/finder/file search tools to navigate to the location.
- Right-click (or control + click on a Mac) on the form file, select “Open with…”, and choose Adobe Reader.
- The interactive form should open in Adobe Reader. Please complete the form on your computer, then print it to sign with a pen before submitting it to us.
Helpful tips:
- You’ll need to use a laptop or desktop computer. Unfortunately, Land Use Victoria forms will not work on mobile devices (e.g.: phones or tablets).
- You’ll need a working version of Acrobat Reader to view, open and add data to Land Use Victoria forms. You can download it here.
- Many internet browsers use their own PDF plug-in that automatically overrides Acrobat Reader as the default way to open the form. You might see a failure message like:
"Please wait...If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document. You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by visiting https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/. For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit https://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/”
If you receive this message, we recommend you follow the steps above.
If you’re still experiencing issues, we recommend trying another computer or visiting a library for assistance. You can also contact us and one of our friendly staff will assist you.