64.This section relates to the situation where a property subject to a feuduty has been sold or transferred prior to the appointed day for abolition of the feudal system but the sale or transfer did not give rise to the compulsory redemption of feuduty under the Land Tenure Reform (Scotland) Act 1974. Feuduty will therefore be extinguished on the appointed day and the former superior will be able to claim compensation. If the former superior wishes to claim a compensatory payment he will have to do so from the vassal who had right to the property immediately before the appointed day. The former superior may try to trace that person by searching in the property registers. If, however the property had changed hands, the property registers may not disclose the new owner, if either the new owner had not yet presented their title, or the Register of Sasines has not been updated to show the new owner's title. It would still show the original owner as the owner of the house, but having sold or transferred the property, the original owner is not the person who is to pay the compensation. If liability rested with the person shown as owner in the property registers, the new owner could avoid liability by delaying in registering his title. This section provides a mechanism to assist a superior relying on the information in the property registers to identify the person who was the vassal or owner at the relevant time. An obligation is placed on the person who owned the property before the vassal or owner who is obliged to pay the compensation (ie the vassal who had right to the property immediately before the appointed day) to help the superior to find that vassal or owner by telling him the name and address of the vassal or owner if he knows it or any other relevant information.
Explanatory Notes Commentary on Sections Part 3: Feuduties Section 15: Duty to disclose identity etc. of former vassal