Insight
September 8, 2026
A property registered in a minor child’s name is not simply a family asset being held for the child’s future. It belongs to the child, with legal protections that restrict how parents or guardians may deal with it.
Those protections can become particularly relevant when circumstances change, and the property needs to be sold.
Barnard’s team recently acted for parents in this position. Residential property was registered in the names of their minor children, and an agreement had subsequently been concluded for its sale. Before the transaction could proceed to transfer, the parents required High Court authority to deal with an asset legally owned by the children.
The matter provides a useful example of how parental guardianship, the protection of a minor’s property and the practical requirements of conveyancing intersect.
Ownership places limits on a parent’s authority
Section 80 of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 restricts a natural guardian from alienating or mortgaging immovable property belonging to a minor without the necessary authority from the Master of the High Court or the Court.
The Master may authorise the alienation where the value of the particular property does not exceed the amount prescribed by the Minister and the transaction is in the minor’s interests. The prescribed amount is currently R250,000. Where the property falls outside the Master’s statutory authority, Court approval must be obtained.
Parents cannot therefore assume that their status as guardians allows them to sell property belonging to their child in the same way that they could dispose of property registered in their own names.
The restriction is designed to protect the minor’s proprietary interests while the child is not yet able to manage those interests independently.
The best interests of the child remain central
The statutory requirements form part of a broader principle governing matters involving children. Section 28(2) of the Constitution provides that a child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.
A Court considering an application to sell property belonging to a minor is therefore not concerned solely with whether the necessary documents have been filed or whether a commercially acceptable transaction has been concluded. The proposed transaction must also adequately protect the child’s interests.
Depending on the circumstances, considerations may include the reason for the proposed sale, the value being obtained for the property, what will happen to the proceeds and the measures proposed to safeguard money or other assets belonging to the child.
The interests of the parents and the practical needs of the family may provide important context, but the property remains the child’s asset and the relief sought must be considered accordingly.
The recent Barnard matter
In the matter handled by Barnard, the residential property was registered in the names of two minor children and had been sold for R800,000. The parents approached the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court for the authority necessary to implement the transaction.
The Court authorised the parents to sell the property and to sign the agreements, transfer documents, conveyancing documents, affidavits, powers of attorney and ancillary documentation required to give effect to the sale.
The order also addressed what would happen to the children’s interest once the property had been transferred. The net proceeds, after payment of the lawful costs associated with the transfer, were directed to be paid into the Guardian’s Fund administered by the Master of the High Court. A certified copy of the Court order could then be lodged with the Registrar of Deeds for purposes of effecting transfer.
The Guardian’s Fund is administered by the Master and is intended, amongst other purposes, to protect and administer funds held on behalf of minors.
The terms of the order therefore addressed both sides of the transaction: enabling the sale and transfer to proceed while ensuring that the value belonging to the children remained protected after the property itself had been disposed of.
The Court application and the transfer need to work together
An ordinary property transaction progresses from an agreement of sale through preparation and signature of transfer documents, lodgement in the Deeds Office and, ultimately, registration.
Where the registered owner is a minor, the additional legal requirements need to be accommodated within that process.
If Court authority is required, the relief sought should correspond with what the parties, conveyancers and Registrar of Deeds will ultimately require to complete the transaction. An order authorising the sale without adequately dealing with the documentation required for transfer could create further difficulties later in the process.
In Barnard’s matter, the Court order expressly authorised the parents to execute the necessary conveyancing documentation and permitted a certified copy of the order to be lodged with the Registrar of Deeds.
Coordination between the attorneys dealing with the Court application and the conveyancers attending to the transfer can help ensure that the eventual order provides a workable route through to registration.
Buying property in your child’s name?
Families may choose to register property in a minor child’s name for a number of reasons, including providing the child with an asset for the future or as part of broader family or estate planning.
The implications should be considered before registration. Once ownership has passed to the child, the property is the child’s asset and the parents’ ability to deal with it becomes correspondingly restricted. A later decision to sell or mortgage the property may require the involvement of the Master or the High Court, together with additional legal and conveyancing steps.
Tax, estate-planning, matrimonial-property and other consequences may also arise depending on how the acquisition is structured and funded. These considerations are best addressed before the property is transferred rather than when the family later needs to deal with it.
Consider the position before committing to a sale
The protections applicable to a minor’s property do not prevent it from being sold. They do, however, mean that the transaction may require more than an agreement between seller and purchaser.
Where a minor is the registered owner, the legal position should ideally be considered before an agreement is concluded or contractual deadlines are fixed. The value of the property, the reasons for the proposed transaction, the interests of the child, the intended treatment of the proceeds and the documentation needed to complete the transfer may all influence the process required.
Obtaining advice at an early stage allows the appropriate Court or Master’s process to be identified and coordinated with the conveyancing transaction from the outset.
Barnard’s Family Law and Conveyancing teams advise on matters involving the ownership, sale and transfer of immovable property where the interests of minor children are involved.
