Closely linked to co-ownership is the co-owners’ right of pre-emption, which can be defined as a situation in which a co-owner who wishes to transfer his/her share to a third party must offer his/her share in priority to the other co-owners.
Right of first refusal
The right of pre-emption protects the co-owner to a certain extent, because it provides him with the possibility to influence who will be his new co-owner.
For example, we can see this specifically in the landowner’s pre-emption right. The owner of a building wants to sell the building that stands on someone else’s land. However, he must offer it to the owner of the land on which it stands in preference. It works the other way round, i.e. if the landowner wants to sell the land, he must first offer it to the owner of the building.
How to bypass the pre-emption right?
According to the Civil Code, the pre-emption right does not apply if the share is transferred to a close relative, i.e. a relative in the direct line, sibling, spouse or partner.
