How to Restore Lost Property Documents: Step-by-Step Guide

Due to the full-scale war in Ukraine, the number of cases involving the loss of documents confirming ownership of apartments, houses, or other real estate has significantly increased. Original documents have often been destroyed, damaged, or left in temporarily occupied territories. The Ministry of Justice has provided detailed explanations regarding the restoration of such documents and the issuance of duplicates.

This is reported by AgroReview

The Ministry of Justice emphasizes: even the loss of a document does not deprive the owner of their property rights. Ukrainian legislation provides for the possibility of restoring ownership documents, and the duplicate has the same legal force as the original.

Procedure for Obtaining a Duplicate from a Notary

According to Article 53 of the Law of Ukraine “On Notaries,” in the event of loss or damage to a notarized document, a notary or the relevant official of the local government can issue a duplicate upon a written request from the following individuals:

• the person on whose behalf the notarial action was performed;
• their successors or heirs;
• the mortgage holder in the case of mortgage agreements;
• the executor of the will or the notary handling the inheritance case.

The duplicate must contain the full text of the lost or damaged document, it will be marked to indicate that it has the same validity as the original, and it will also include a certification inscription. Information about the issuance of the duplicate is recorded on the copy that is kept by the notary or in the archive.

Until the documents are transferred to the archive, the duplicate is issued by the notary who holds the original.

Features of Processing During Martial Law

During the period of martial law, notarial actions are prohibited in regions where hostilities are taking place or where occupation continues. Some notaries from these areas have temporarily suspended their work or evacuated their archives to safer regions.

The Ministry of Justice has allowed private notaries to change the location of their offices within the region to ensure the preservation of documents and the continuation of their activities. In the event of a threat to the destruction of archives, decisions regarding their relocation are made by the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Justice.

In each situation, it is necessary to clarify where the notarial documents are currently stored, whether in the archive of a private notary or a state notary office.

“If it is impossible to obtain a duplicate due to lack of access to the archive, for example, due to occupation, the individual has the right to appeal to the court with a claim for recognition of ownership rights to the property.”

This right is provided for in Article 392 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which allows the owner to demand recognition of their rights in case of dispute, non-recognition by other parties, or loss of supporting documents.