Unit 2.5 Paper 1

Conveyance Inter Vivos for the RES Exam

Last reviewed 12 October 2026

A conveyance inter vivos is a transfer of land between living people, as opposed to a transfer that happens on death. Unit 2.5 follows one transaction from the option to purchase through to registration of the transfer, and it is where the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, the Law Society’s Conditions of Sale and the rules on who may hold the buyer’s money all come together. Much of what a salesperson does in a resale deal sits inside this unit, so it is examined both as law and as practice.

Key points

A conveyance inter vivos is a transfer between living persons; succession deals with transfers on death.
For registered land, legal title passes only on registration of the transfer, not on signing or stamping.
An option to purchase is an irrevocable offer supported by the option fee; exercising it forms the contract.
Civil Law Act s 6(d) requires writing signed by the party to be charged; an oral land contract is unenforceable, not void.
The Conveyancing and Law of Property Act requires a deed for any conveyance except a lease of not more than 7 years at a rack rent.
Legal requisitions go to URA for the planning decision and zoning, and to LTA for a Road Line Plan; a URA requisition costs $54.50 (as at October 2026).
Under the Conditions of Sale 2020, a Notice to Complete gives the party served a further 21 days, and only non-compliance with it opens the way to forfeiture of the deposit.
Option fee and deposit cheques are payable to “the name of the law firm followed by -CVY” or to the Singapore Academy of Law, never to the agency or salesperson.

What “conveyance inter vivos” means and the three stages of a transfer

“Inter vivos” is Latin for “between the living”. A conveyance inter vivos is therefore any transfer of an estate or interest in land made by a living owner to another person, whether for a price, by way of gift or in exchange. It is contrasted with succession, where the interest passes on death under a will or the intestacy rules.

It helps to think of a Singapore transfer as three stages. First, the parties become contractually bound, usually through an option to purchase that the buyer exercises. Second, the transaction is completed: the balance of the price is paid, the seller’s mortgage is redeemed, and the seller hands over an executed instrument of transfer. Third, the transfer is registered. For land under the Land Titles Act the third stage is the decisive one, because legal title passes only when the instrument is registered — not when it is signed, and not when stamp duty is paid.

Candidates lose marks by collapsing these stages. A buyer who has exercised an option has a contract and an equitable interest, which is why a caveat is lodged; the buyer is not yet the owner.

From option to purchase to a binding contract

An option to purchase is an irrevocable offer supported by consideration, the option fee. Because the seller has been paid to keep the offer open, the seller cannot withdraw it during the option period, and the buyer may let it lapse, losing only the option fee. Exercising the option within the option period creates the binding contract of sale.

Section 6(d) of the Civil Law Act 1909 requires a contract for the sale or other disposition of immovable property, or some memorandum or note of it, to be in writing and signed by the party to be charged, or by that party’s lawfully authorised agent. Two points follow. The signature needed is that of the defendant — the party being sued — not necessarily both parties. And an oral land contract is unenforceable, not void: part performance can still be argued, although the Singapore courts apply the doctrine strictly, requiring the acts relied on to point unequivocally to the contract alleged (Hu Lee Impex Pte Ltd v Lim Aik Seng [2013] SGHC 142).

For private residential resale, the Council for Estate Agencies’ Practice Guidelines on Options to Purchase and Sale and Purchase Agreements (PG 1-2021) make two Standard Contract Templates available — an option to purchase and a sale and purchase agreement — both incorporating the Law Society of Singapore’s Conditions of Sale 2020. If a salesperson is unsure about the effect of any condition, the Guidelines require the client to be advised to take legal advice.

The Conveyancing and Law of Property Act and the deed requirement

The Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1886 is the general statute on the form of conveyances. Its central rule for this unit is that a conveyance of any estate or interest in land, other than a lease for a period not exceeding seven years at a rack rent, is void at law unless it is made by deed in the English language. That is why transfers, mortgages and long leases are executed as deeds, while a two-year tenancy at market rent is a perfectly good legal lease without one.

A conveyance that fails the deed requirement is not necessarily worthless. Under the rule in Walsh v Lonsdale, applied in Singapore, equity treats as done that which ought to be done: a specifically enforceable written agreement takes effect in equity on the same terms, so a ten-year lease made by signed writing alone gives the tenant an equitable lease. That interest is vulnerable to later registered dealings, which is why it should be protected by a caveat.

The Act also implies covenants into conveyances made for valuable consideration (section 7).

Requisitions, searches and investigating title

Between contract and completion the buyer’s solicitor investigates title and makes legal requisitions — formal searches of the government departments whose plans or decisions could affect the property. A requisition to the Urban Redevelopment Authority returns the latest planning decision for the property and its current Master Plan zoning; URA charges $54.50 per property including GST and emails the result within three working days of payment (as at October 2026). Road reserve information is not part of the URA reply: a Road Line Plan is applied for from the Land Transport Authority, while drainage proposals come from a Drainage Interpretation Plan issued by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, and land acquisition status is checked separately. Lot and subdivision details for these applications come from the Integrated Land Information Service.

Alongside the requisitions, the solicitor searches the land-register for the registered proprietor, mortgages, charges and caveats, and searches for bankruptcy against the seller; the Ministry of Law’s Individual Insolvency Search costs $6 (as at October 2026). An unsatisfactory reply, such as a road line cutting into the land or an undisclosed encumbrance, is what entitles the buyer to object before completion rather than after. The buyer’s own interest between contract and registration is protected by a caveat, which under the Land Titles Act remains valid for five years from lodgment unless extended.

Completion, the Conditions of Sale and late completion

Completion is the point at which the price is paid against delivery of the executed transfer and the title documents. Outgoings such as property tax and maintenance charges are apportioned to the completion date, the seller’s mortgage and any CPF charge are redeemed out of the sale proceeds and discharged, so the discharges and the transfer are registered together and the buyer takes a clean title. A buyer does not take over the seller’s housing loan.

Where the Law Society’s Conditions of Sale 2020 are incorporated, a party who fails to complete on the agreed date, the other party not being at fault, must pay interest at the rate provided for the period of delay until actual completion. Completing late does not wipe out that liability, and the interest is paid by the party who caused the delay, not by the innocent party. If completion is missed, the innocent party makes time of the essence by serving a Notice to Complete, which gives the party served a further 21 days to complete. Only if the defaulting buyer still fails to comply with a valid notice may the seller forfeit the deposit and pursue the other remedies in the conditions, including a resale; alternatively the innocent party may sue for specific performance. The common error is to assume the deposit is forfeited automatically on the missed completion date.

The conveyancing account, and why a salesperson must never hold the money

Since 1 August 2011, conveyancing money in a Singapore property transaction may not sit in a law firm’s ordinary client account. It must be held in one of three ways: in a Conveyancing Account opened with one of the banks appointed by the Minister for Law, through the Singapore Academy of Law’s Conveyancing Money Service, or under an escrow agreement between the buyer’s and seller’s solicitors for a complex transaction. CPF money is stake-held in a Conveyancing (CPF) Account. Withdrawals need two-party authorisation, so neither firm can release the money alone. A lawyer who receives or holds conveyancing money outside these channels faces a fine of up to $50,000, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.

This is why cheques for the option fee and the deposit are made payable either to “<Name of law firm>-CVY“, the conveyancing account, or to “Singapore Academy of Law” — never to the estate agency or the salesperson. Separately, regulation 7 of the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations prohibits an estate agent or salesperson from holding or handling transaction monies for the sale or purchase of any property in Singapore, and for the lease of HDB property. The only exceptions are delivering a crossed cheque or cashier’s order made out to the payee, and receiving the salesperson’s own remuneration under a written contract. The penalty is a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, with a further $500 for each day a continuing offence persists. Issuing a receipt, or describing oneself as holding the money as a “stakeholder”, does not make it permissible.

Terms to know

Conveyance inter vivos: A transfer of an estate or interest in land made between living persons, as opposed to a transfer taking effect on death.
Deed: A formal written instrument, required by the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act for any conveyance of land other than a lease of not more than seven years at a rack rent.
Legal requisition: A formal search of a government department, such as URA or LTA, to find out whether its plans or decisions affect the property being sold.
Notice to Complete: A notice served after a missed completion date which makes time of the essence and gives the party served a further 21 days to complete under the Conditions of Sale 2020.
Conveyancing account: A separate bank account with a bank appointed by the Minister for Law, denoted “-CVY”, in which a law firm must hold conveyancing money.
Rack rent: A rent representing the full annual value of the property, used in the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act’s exception to the deed requirement for short leases.
Apportionment: The division of outgoings such as property tax and maintenance charges between seller and buyer as at the completion date.

Frequently asked questions

When does the buyer actually become the owner of the property?

For land under the Land Titles Act, the buyer becomes the registered proprietor only when the instrument of transfer is registered. Exercising the option creates a binding contract and gives the buyer an equitable interest, which is usually protected by a caveat, but legal title passes at registration.

Does a contract for the sale of land have to be in writing?

Section 6(d) of the Civil Law Act 1909 requires the contract, or a memorandum or note of it, to be in writing and signed by the party to be charged or that party’s authorised agent. An oral contract is unenforceable rather than void, and part performance may be argued, although the Singapore courts apply the doctrine strictly.

How long does a Notice to Complete give the defaulting party?

Under the Law Society of Singapore’s Conditions of Sale 2020, a party served with a Notice to Complete must complete within 21 days after service. The notice is how time is made of the essence after a missed completion date, and the party who caused the delay pays interest for the period of delay.

Who can the option fee cheque be made out to?

To the seller’s law firm’s conveyancing account, written as the name of the law firm followed by “-CVY”, or to “Singapore Academy of Law” for its Conveyancing Money Service. It must not be made out to the estate agent, the salesperson or the agency, because regulation 7 of the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations bars them from holding transaction monies.

What are legal requisitions and why do they matter to a sale?

They are formal searches of the government departments whose decisions affect the land — URA for the latest planning decision and Master Plan zoning, LTA for a Road Line Plan, and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment for a Drainage Interpretation Plan. Unsatisfactory replies are what allow a buyer to object before completion rather than after.

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