Caveat

Caveats generally means a ‘warning’. In law, a caveat is basically a notice meaning that certain actions shouldn’t be taken without informing the person who has given that notice.

Caveats take various forms:

Succession Law

In succession law, a person can lodge a caveat in court to prevent grant of letters of administration/ probate, if they have a legal reason. The Caveat stops the people who are Executor(s) or Administrator(s) from obtaining a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration and being able to distribute the estate. Upon receiving the objection, the court shall not grant letters of administration or probate until it has heard the person objecting and determined whether or not they have good cause for the objection but if there is no reasonable ground, the court will go ahead and grant the letters of administration to the petitioner.

Land Rights

Talking about Land Rights, a person claiming any interest in registered land, for instance a lease or mortgage, family land etc can lodge a caveat with the Registrar of titles. Any caveat lodged will be reflected on the certificate of title, on the encumbrance’s page.

The caveat forbids the registration of any person as transferee or proprietor by way of a sale, lease, mortgage or any other interest on land.

Marriage and Divorce

Under the customary marriage Act, any person whose consent to a customary marriage is required, or who may know of any just cause why the customary marriage should not take place, may enter a caveat against the issue of the registrar’s certificate. This is done by writing at any time before the issuing of the certificate the word “Forbidden” opposite to the entry of the notice in the customary marriage notice book, and appending to it his or her name and place of abode, and the grounds upon or by reason of which he or she claims to forbid the issue of the certificate, and the registrar shall not issue his or her certificate until the caveat shall be removed by court.

Vehicles

Additionally, a caveat can be lodged on a vehicle. A person with an interest may in a motor vehicle may lodge a caveat on it by applying/ filling out a form provided by the uganda revenue authority. This can be instances when the vehicle has been bought on loan, hire purchase, or any instance where the buyer hasn’t fully cleared the car payments/ has put up the car as security. A seller/ person who has loaned the buyer money etc can lodge a caveat.