What is the difference between a deed and a Certificate of Title in Trinidad and Tobago?

Two systems, side by side

• Old-law land. Ownership passes by deed, since a conveyance does not pass the legal estate unless made by deed (Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Chapter 56:01), s 10(1)). Deeds are registered with the Registrar General under the Registration of Deeds Act (Chapter 19:06).
• Real Property Act land. Ownership comes from registration in the Registrar General's Register Book (Real Property Act (Chapter 56:02)). Every grant of State land in fee simple comes under this Act (s 7). Other land can be brought under it on application (s 8).

Old-law land: a chain of deeds

Registering a deed does not prove that the seller owned what was sold. A registered deed ranks by date of registration, and takes effect "according to the right, title and interest of the person conveying" (Registration of Deeds Act, s 16(1)). An unregistered deed is void against a later buyer or mortgagee for value, without notice of it, who registers first (s 16(2)).

On a sale completed after 13 October 2000, the buyer can require the seller to prove title going back at least 20 years, unless the contract says otherwise (Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, s 5). The buyer's attorney checks that chain and searches the Registrar General's records for mortgages and other dealings.

A deed of gift (or a settlement) must be registered within 12 months of its execution, and it passes nothing until it is registered. It can still be registered later, but only on payment of five times the usual fee plus any further penalty, up to TT$2,000, that the Registrar General imposes (Registration of Deeds Act, s 18(1)–(2); Legal Notice 389/2025). The rule also covers gifts of Real Property Act land (s 18(3)).

Real Property Act land: the register is the title

The Registrar General binds the original Certificate of Title into the Register Book and gives the owner a duplicate (Real Property Act, ss 31–32). The certificate is conclusive evidence that the person named is entitled to the land for the estate stated, except as the Act provides (s 37).

• A transfer or mortgage passes nothing until an entry is made in the Register Book (ss 38, 44).
• A buyer dealing with the registered owner need not look behind the register and, except in fraud, is not affected by notice of an unregistered interest. Knowing of such an interest is not, by itself, fraud (s 141).
• A lost duplicate can be replaced on application to the Registrar General (s 136).

Where a registered title can fail

Even if nothing is noted on the register, the owner holds subject to (ss 45–46):

• an earlier grant or Certificate of Title for the same land;
• the rights of anyone in adverse possession of the land (a squatter);
• a tenancy of up to 3 years, if the tenant's possession is not adverse;
• an omitted or misdescribed easement, such as a right of way;
• land included by a wrong boundary description, unless the owner is a buyer for value or took from one;
• public rights of way, unpaid rates, taxes and public land charges, reservations or conditions in the original State grant, and any compulsory acquisition.

A victim of fraud can recover the land from an owner who was registered through fraud, or from anyone who took from that owner otherwise than as a good-faith buyer for value (s 143(b)). But a buyer or mortgagee who took in good faith and for value is generally protected, even if the person they dealt with, or someone earlier in the chain, was registered through fraud or error (s 146). The victim is then left to claim damages. Anyone who loses land through fraud or error may be able to claim damages, sometimes from the Assurance Fund, generally within 6 years of being deprived (ss 145, 148, 150).

So inspect registered land, and ask occupiers what right they claim.

Reforms passed but not in force

• The Registration of Titles to Land Act 2000, Land Adjudication Act 2000 and Land Tribunal Act 2000 would create a new system of registered title. None is in force as at 22 September 2026.
• Act 17 of 2020 would require agreements for the sale of land, with some exceptions, to be registered within 30 days of full execution, and a deed signed after it starts would pass nothing until registered (it would then take effect from its date). It needs a Proclamation (s 2), and none had been made as at 22 September 2026.