Transferring a deceased person's land in Uganda: checklist
In brief
You cannot transfer a deceased's land straight to beneficiaries. Get a grant, register the personal representative by transmission, then transfer the title. This checklist runs the sequence.
Who it's for & when to use it
Who it's for: Administrators, executors and beneficiaries dealing with titled estate land.
When to use it: After a grant has issued and estate land must be moved to beneficiaries.
When not to use it: Before a grant, or for unregistered customary land (different process).
The checklist
1. Get the grant
- Obtain probate or letters of administration first; an intestate estate is distributed in the statutory shares (Succession Act ss.25–27, 180).
- Confirm the estate land by its title particulars and a current search.
2. Register the personal representative
- Apply to be registered as proprietor by transmission on an office copy of the grant (RTA s.118(1)).
- Where there are co-administrators, all must join in every instrument (s.118(3)).
3. Transfer to the beneficiary
- Identify the entitled beneficiary and prepare a transfer to them.
- Pay the nominal 15,000/= stamp duty on a transfer from a personal representative to a beneficiary (Stamp Duty Act, Schedule item 64).
- Observe spousal consent on family land (Land Act ss.39–40).
4. Register and confirm
- Lodge the transfer for registration and collect the title in the beneficiary's name.
- Run a confirmatory search to verify the registration.
Key authorities
- Registration of Titles Act, Cap. 240 (2023 Revision) — s.118.
- Succession Act, Cap. 268 (2023 Revision) — ss.25–27, 180.
- Stamp Duty Act, Cap. 339 (2023 Revision) — Schedule item 64.
- Land Act, Cap. 236 (2023 Revision) — ss.39–40.
Checklist · Succession & estates.
Actively maintained.
Last reviewed 9 June 2026; next review due 9 December 2026.
This resource is a practitioner orientation and general information, not legal advice, and does not create an advocate–client relationship. It is AI-generated. Ugandan law changes and chapter and section numbers were revised in the 2023 Laws of Uganda. Verify every statute, rule, form, fee and authority against the current primary source — and the specific facts of your matter — before relying on it.