How to determine if the property really belongs to your ancestor?

Have you found an insufficiently identified owner in the list who you think is your ancestor, and your family has a claim to this property? The first step is to verify or at least increase the probability that it really is your family member.

It's important to understand how the cadastre record was created. Registration in the cadastre is based on the acquisition title (inheritance decision, purchase contract, etc.), which contains the information you see in the cadastre. Data about insufficiently identified owners is therefore from the time when the property was transferred to the current owner. Most insufficiently identified property owners were born between 1890 and 1950.

The following information will help with identification

Name

The name of the insufficiently identified owner must match. The cadastre occasionally contains typos, and people changed their names due to historical events, but these are less common cases.

Address

Some records include the address at the time of acquisition. If you don't recognize this address or are certain your ancestor never lived there, it's very likely that it may not be your ancestor's property.

Property location

People most often bought land near their residence because they could easily cultivate or manage it there. The closer the property is to places where your ancestor lived, the greater the chance that they were the owner.

Year of birth

This information is rarely included in records, which complicates identification. However, if such a record exists, it must exactly match the record of your ancestor.

A specific case is „Unknown address” If in your case the address is unknown and you only believe it's your ancestor based on the name and approximate location, there are several other ways to increase the probability that it's your relative.

Co-ownership

If the land is owned by multiple people, it's likely that there is a relationship between the co-owners, most commonly familial. If there are persons you know among the co-owners, it's more likely that it's your ancestor.

Ownership certificate

Also known as an extract from the land registry. From the ownership certificate, you can find out who owns the parcel and based on which legal documents (such as inheritance decisions) the current owner acquired ownership of the parcel, and in some cases, you can also find out the exact date of acquisition.

There are several ways to obtain an extract from the land registry: you can do it in person at the land registry office, through Czech POINT branches, at a notary, or online on the land registry website.

Acquisition title

This is a document used to prove the acquisition of property ownership. It can be various types of documents, such as purchase contracts, donation contracts, or inheritance decisions. To register a change of ownership in the land registry, it is necessary to submit the acquisition title to the relevant cadastral office. This document is then stored at the office and is available upon request. The acquisition title usually contains other important information about the property owner. Anyone can obtain the acquisition title from the relevant cadastral office for a small fee.

A request for this document can be submitted in person, in writing, or electronically via a data box, or online directly on the cadastral website. However, older documents may not be available online.