Buying property in Albania from co-owners or heirs: how to buy when there are several sellers

Not every property has a single owner: it may belong to two spouses, to several brothers and sisters who inherited it from their parents, or to several partners. As a buyer, you need all of them. The Albanian Civil Code is clear: a jointly owned thing can be transferred only with the consent of all the co-owners (Article 208). Below we explain how to find out how many owners a property in Albania has, what is needed when it comes from an inheritance, what role the spouse plays and how owners who live abroad sign.

The co-owners who must agree to the sale of the property (Civil Code, Article 208)

All

The co-owners' deadline for pre-emption when only a share is sold (Article 204)

3 months

Certificate of legal inheritance from the notary (15,000 lek with a will)

10,000 lek

Deadline for registering the certificate of inheritance with ASHK

30 days

How to find out how many owners a property has

The property record card at ASHK (the State Cadastre Agency, Agjencia Shtetërore e Kadastrës) shows the owners and the act from which the ownership arose (Law no. 111/2018, Article 13). When there are several co-owners and the act does not set the shares, they are presumed to be equal (Article 44; Civil Code, Article 199). The law provides that, in co-ownership, the ownership certificate is drawn up in as many copies as there are co-owners (Law no. 111/2018, Article 17); compare what you are shown with a freshly issued record card, where all the owners appear.

Take care with properties bought during a marriage. Under the cadastre law, they are registered in the co-ownership of both spouses, unless the spouses prove a separate property regime (Article 45). Older registrations do not always reflect this: ASHK also offers the e-Albania (government services portal) service "Pasqyrim i bashkëpronësisë bashkëshortore në regjistrimet e mëparshme" (recording spousal co-ownership in earlier registrations), for properties bought during the marriage that were registered in the name of only one spouse. The notary (noter), for their part, declares the matrimonial property regime and the presumption of legal co-ownership in every deed transferring immovable property (Law no. 110/2018, Article 105). Ask the seller for the family certificate and the date on which they acquired the property: if they were married, the spouse must also be part of the sale.

When the whole property is sold: everyone's consent

If the property has four owners, the sale contract is signed by all four, in person or through a notarial power of attorney. If one of them refuses, the property cannot be sold as a whole. The co-owners can divide it by notarial agreement or in court; when the property cannot be divided in kind, the court can order its sale at auction or, for a dwelling, leave it to the co-owner who lives there, with the obligation to pay the others for their shares (Civil Code, Article 207). Do not pay a deposit until you have everyone's written consent. When you look at apartments for sale, ask from the start how many owners the property has and whether they all agree to the sale.

When there are several sellers, the notarial deed must state how the price is paid (Law no. 110/2018, Article 105). Write down the share due to each seller and pay it by bank transfer into each one's account, or into the notary's special account if you have agreed to do so.

When you buy only a share: the right of pre-emption

A co-owner can sell just their own share. The right of pre-emption is the other co-owners' right to buy that share first, on the same terms offered to an outside buyer. So for immovable property, before selling to someone outside the co-ownership, the co-owner must ask the other co-owners in writing whether they want to buy it on the same terms. If they do not reply within three months, the co-owner is free to sell to third parties (Civil Code, Articles 200 and 204). The right of pre-emption can also be registered in the cadastre (Law no. 111/2018, Article 58).

Think carefully before you buy a share: you become a co-owner with the others, you pay costs in proportion to your share, the property is managed by majority decision and any co-owner can ask for it to be divided (Articles 200, 201 and 203).

When the property comes from an inheritance

Who the heirs are and how much each one is entitled to is decided neither by the sellers nor by the agent, but by the certificate of inheritance (dëshmia e trashëgimisë): the act issued by a notary that establishes the heirs of a deceased person and each heir's share. Here we look at it from the buyer's side; how the heirs obtain the certificate is explained in inheriting property in 2026. Under the Civil Code, the status of heir and the shares are established in the certificate of inheritance that the notary issues once the death certificate is presented; for legal inheritance it is issued by the notary of the place where the deceased had their last residence, and when there is a will by the notary where the will was drawn up or deposited (Article 348). Before issuing it, the notary asks the National Chamber of Notaries whether there is a will or a certificate previously issued by another notary (Law no. 110/2018, Article 111).

The certificate lists the heirs, their shares, the deceased's matrimonial property regime and any renunciations. It also contains a clause that prevents any infringement of the surviving spouse's share in assets acquired during the marriage (Article 112). The applicant must file the certificate with ASHK within 30 days; otherwise, according to ASHK, a late-payment penalty of 10% of the fee is charged on top of the registration fee for each day of delay, up to 300,000 lek. Registration is done on e-Albania through the service "Aplikim për regjistrim të aktit të trashëgimisë" (application to register the act of inheritance, KP5) and costs 2,000 lek.

For the buyer, the order matters: ASHK refuses a transfer deed that does not follow on chronologically from the registered titles (Law no. 111/2018, Article 24). So if the record card still shows the name of the deceased, the inheritance must be registered before your purchase can be registered.

Two more rules help you understand what is being signed:

• Renouncing an inheritance is done by a declaration before a notary, also through a special power of attorney, within three months of the opening of the succession, or within six months when the heir is abroad (Civil Code, Articles 333 and 335). A renunciation that is conditional, covers only part of the inheritance or is made "in favour of" one of the other heirs is invalid (Article 337). If the heirs want the property sold to only one of them, or sold by only one of them, this is done through other deeds, not through a renunciation "in favour of".
• A buyer in good faith is protected. Even if another heir later claims the property in court from the person who held it under a certificate of inheritance, whoever bought it from that person in good faith is not obliged to return it (Article 350). This does not replace the checks: make sure the certificate is registered and that all the heirs named in it take part in the sale.

The tax on the gain from the sale is paid by the seller; for an inherited property, the purchase price is taken to be the taxable value at the time of acquisition (Law no. 29/2023, Article 17). Worked examples are in the 15% tax when you sell property.

When a co-owner or heir lives abroad

They can be represented by someone they trust. A power of attorney for a contract that can only be made by notarial deed, such as the sale of a property, must itself be notarial, otherwise it is invalid (Civil Code, Article 72), and it can also be registered on the property record card (Law no. 111/2018, Article 60). At a notary in Albania, a special power of attorney costs 3,000 lek, or 5,000 lek when more than five people take part, for example when several heirs appoint one representative together (Joint Instruction no. 22/2020). Acts made outside Albania must be translated and certified under international agreements (Law no. 111/2018, Article 61): where to make the power of attorney and who adds the apostille is explained in the article on the special power of attorney from abroad and in the guide how to buy a home from abroad.

Frequently asked questions

The full list of documents for the purchase is in the documents for buying a home, and the notary and ASHK fees, with a calculator, are in the costs of buying property. If the property also has an unpaid loan, see the mortgage on the property.