This week, our readers express concerns about how to obtain a title for unregistered land as well as divorce proceedings.

One reader writes:

"Dear Sir,

I have been reading your column in the daily Star, therefore I would like your help in this situation. My dad died when I was 12 and I am now 27 years old. He left behind three children with my mom (all grown up), myself and two boys. The land on which my parents lived from before we were born was given to my dad by his mother. That's our grandmother who is now deceased.

My dad before he died left instruction, signed and stamped by a justice of the peace in the area at that time, willing the land to myself and my two other siblings.

Up to date the land is just there and my mother keeps paying the tax in my grandmother's name, so I am taking it upon myself to find out who this land belongs to. I went by the 'land place' downtown for them to do a search. It was done but I was told that the land was not registered to my grandmother nor my dad. It was in nobody's name.

We have been living on this land forever and would like to claim it especially since my mom has been paying the taxes from before we were born. Can you please steer me in the direction to solve this problem."

This reader should not worry too much as it appears that her mother would be able to prove a very long and unbroken period of open and undisturbed occupation. In addition, her mother has been paying the taxes. What is now required is to commission a survey of the area occupied and thereafter attend on an attorney-at-law with the survey diagram and the tax certificate and provide instructions of the open and undisturbed possession for these many years.

The lawyer may make an application for adverse possession and have the land registered at the same time so that your mother will obtain a registered title for the said land. If the land is in 'nobody's name' it might be owned by the Government. Should this be so, you have to prove a much longer period of occupation. Not just twelve years but at least forty years.

I am not sure that the instructions your dad left conform to provisions in the Wills Act so that it could be considered a will. If it was only witnessed by the justice of the peace it would not be considered a will but mere instructions as you have indicated above.

I am sure this matter can be resolved easily by one of the many attorneys-at-law who has a conveyance practice. Ask your mother to see a lawyer about the matter.

And this Jamaican who lives abroad writes:

"I'm a Jamaican and my husband is an American. We both got married in Jamaica in 1996. We have been apart for five of those years and he has already moved on with his life having another family. My question is, even though I currently live in the U.S., do I have to conduct divorce proceedings in Jamaica? If so, can I have my mother who is currently living there start the proceedings for me? Thanks for your time in reading and replying to my email."

In response let me say that my general understanding of the law is that you may obtain a divorce in another jurisdiction provided you satisfy the law and procedure of that jurisdiction. In that regard, you might wish to consult with a lawyer for advice wherever you now reside. However, if you so desire and wish to pursue the matter in Jamaica, you may ask your mother to make contact with an attorney-at-law in Jamaica, but I am sure that with modern technology you will be able to have direct contact with an attorney-at-law to provide all the relevant instructions.

Keith N. Bishop is an attorney-at-law and partner in the firm of Bishop and Fullerton. He may be contacted by email at knbishop@gmail.com