Selling a minor’s property with court permission

When you need the court's permission

Section 29 applies to a guardian of property appointed or declared by the court. Without the court’s previous permission, that guardian may not:

• mortgage or charge the child’s immovable property;
• transfer it by sale, gift, exchange or otherwise; or
• lease it for more than five years, or for a term running more than a year beyond the date the child comes of age.

The common case is a family selling an inherited house or plot in which one or more children have a share. The adult heirs can sell their own shares, but not the children’s. A buyer’s lawyer will usually insist on the court’s permission before paying.

If no one has been appointed guardian yet, apply for that first or in the same petition: see guardianship certificate. A parent acting without any appointment generally has no power to sell a child’s land at all.

What happens if you sell without it

A sale made in breach of section 29 is voidable at the instance of the child or anyone else affected (section 30). In practice the child can challenge it after coming of age, and the buyer may lose the property. That risk is why careful buyers, banks and registrars ask for the permission order.

Settling the dispute by compromise does not avoid this. In July 2026 the Federal Constitutional Court held that a court cannot accept a compromise affecting a minor’s property unless it records that the compromise is lawful and in the minor’s best interests (CPC Order XXXII rule 7), with the Guardian Court’s prior approval where the law requires it.

What the court looks for

• A good reason: the sale is necessary (for the child’s maintenance, education or health, or to pay a debt on the property) or clearly to the child’s advantage (a better investment, ending a co-owned property that cannot be divided).
• A fair price: a valuation, and a buyer offering at least that. The court may order an auction or ask for better offers.
• The child’s share protected: how the money will be kept and used.
• No conflict of interest: a guardian buying the property themselves, or selling to a relative at a low price, will be scrutinised closely.

Applying for permission

1. Petition the Guardian Court that appointed the guardian (or apply for appointment and permission together), describing the property exactly and the act you want permission for (section 31).
2. Explain the reason and attach the evidence: title documents, the inheritance mutation or succession papers, the family’s agreement.
3. Attach a valuation and the buyer’s offer, if you have one.
4. Propose what happens to the child’s share: a bank deposit or savings certificates in the child’s name.
5. Hearing and order. The order names the property, the price or terms, and the conditions. Complete the sale only on those terms.

The child's share of the price

Courts usually direct that the minor’s share be deposited in the child’s name, in a bank or in National Savings certificates, and that nothing be withdrawn without the court’s order until the child comes of age. Keep the deposit receipts; the court may ask for proof that its order was followed. Money for the child’s school or medical needs can be released on a further application.