DIR With Exception - Sift Instructions

A disposition which transfers subjects from the sasine register to the land register will almost always describe the subjects by reference to an earlier sasine description. A typical sasine reference description might be:

WE HEREBY DISPONE to and in favour of [the purchaser] ALL and WHOLE the subjects known as and forming IVY COTTAGE, LOCH RUTHVEN, DORES, INVERNESS IV2 6UA in the County of Inverness being the subjects more particularly described in, in feu farm disponed by and shown delineated and outlined in black and coloured pink on the plan annexed and executed as relative to Feu Disposition by [seller] in favour of [previous owner] dated Thirtieth June and recorded in the Division of the General Register of Sasines applicable to the County of Inverness on Fourteenth August both months in Nineteen Hundred and ninety eight.

This tells us that the deed recorded GRS (Inverness) 14 August 1998 contains a full description of the subjects which are being conveyed. This type of description works well if the owner is selling the whole of the subjects which were described in the earlier disposition. But sometimes a seller will dispone only part of the subjects described in the earlier deed. For example:

A vendor might own a house with a separate garage. They decide to sell the house, but they want to keep the garage.
A farmer might decide to sell the farm, but retain the farmhouse as their family home.

In that type of situation, the deed will still repeat the sasine reference, but it will then go on to except (exclude) part of the subjects described in the earlier deed.

How will I recognise exceptions?

The exceptions case characteristic can always be recognised by looking for the words excepting or exception in the disposition. The excepted subjects will always come after the dispositive clause, and also after the description of the main subjects.

For applications which are also TCA1, take care to check that the exception is from the subjects which are being sold, and not from the retained subjects.

Beyond that, dispositions can use various different methods to describe subjects which have been excepted from the main property description. For example:

EXCEPTING THEREFROM any part of the subjects registered in the Land Register of Scotland under ABN1…
Under exception of the area of ground outlined in red and partly hatched green on the plan annexed and executed as relative hereto…
Excepting therefrom the dwellinghouse known as Cargyle Farmhouse, being the subjects described in, disponed by, and shown coloured pink and blue on the plan annexed and subscribed as relative to disposition by [seller] to [purchaser] dated 14 June 1998 and recorded in the General Register of Sasines 22 June 1998…

What else do I need to know?

Descriptions of exceptions can be very lengthy. For a large property such as a country estate, a list of exceptions might run to several pages.

Examples

Useful Links

Property Section Information includes guidance about exceptions. See the heading Descriptions Under Exception for further details.