Road matters
Before, disputes among road shareholders were handled by municipal road boards. Now, the situation is different. If disagreements among the parties cannot be resolved independently or through external mediation, they often end up in court. This can be costly. The threshold for taking legal action can be high, and in many cases, clear abuses within road associations remain unresolved, and arbitrary decisions by individual officials can stand. Matters within road maintenance associations might be in disarray. For instance, legal requirements for holding road meetings every four years might be neglected, or financial statements may be outdated.
Boundary determinations and mediation
In boundary determinations, many different matters related to road associations can be resolved by the surveyor. The cost is significantly cheaper than going to court, and an attorney can be used as a mediator. In boundary determinations, decisions are made about the division of road construction and maintenance costs among the road shareholders, and issues related to road usage are resolved. A private road boundary determination can be requested by a property owner or co-owner, a road shareholder, or a road association. The application from the road association requires a decision from a road association meeting. The application can be submitted by the chairman of the road association or a person authorized by the road association. There are many road shareholders, including individuals living along the roads and forest owners adjacent to the roads. Our office’s lawyers can participate on your behalf in the road meeting if necessary and mediate the matter between the parties.
Disputes in Court
Disputes are nowadays resolved in the district court, and unfortunately, the costs of handling complaint lawsuits increase significantly in these cases. Due to the risk of expenses, it’s not advisable to file a complaint lawsuit about every matter. The losing party usually also has to cover the legal costs of the other party. However, in most cases, agreements can be reached through negotiation. It’s advisable for a road association to have liability insurance that includes legal protection, as communal matters rarely go as smoothly as planned. In such cases, our office’s legal experts assist both in negotiation and throughout the entire legal process.
The most common sources of conflict include a shareholder’s dissatisfaction with the distribution of road maintenance costs and suspicions about the legality of the road association’s meeting procedures. It’s also possible that a road user might legally demand compensation from the road association for neglecting the maintenance of a private road.
In an estate, the distribution of inheritance must be carried out before the division of property
A co-owner of an undivided estate cannot directly apply for the division of a property belonging to the estate. First, the inheritance distribution must be carried out, determining the size of each co-owner’s ownership share. After the inheritance distribution, a “lainhuuto” (registration of ownership) must be applied for the ownership share, and only after this step is completed, the division procedure becomes possible.
Land court matters
The Land Court handles appeals regarding partition and division proceedings carried out by the National Land Survey of Finland. The outcomes of these processes can have significant impacts on the value or usability of a property. As a result, Land Court matters can arise after the sale of a portion of land or, for example, due to the dissolution of co-ownership following an inheritance, if the property has been divided into fractional ownerships.
It’s advisable to choose a lawyer to handle Land Court matters who comprehensively understands property-related legal matters and the Land Court process, including the issues addressed there. The procedure in the Land Court is quite similar to that of the District Court in civil litigation matters. Our legal experts handle various Land Court cases skillfully and have assisted parties in property proceedings. It’s important to engage a knowledgeable specialist from the outset of property proceedings. This approach can help narrow down and settle the issues, leading to cost savings.
