Double county writs are deeds affecting subjects in the Sasine register, which are in two different counties, e.g. Midlothian & Peebles.

Multiple county writs contain subjects in more than two counties.

The Sasine Application Form must refer to all counties in which the deed is to be recorded. The first county marked alphabetically in the SAF is known as the Principal County and the rest are known as Subsidiary Counties.

Section 3 of the Land Registers (Scotland) Act 1868 provides for a writ which contains property in more than one county to be reproduced at length in the Record Volume of one of the counties and by memorandum in the Volume(s) of the other county or counties.

What this means is that there will be a copy of the deed found on the microfiche/electronic record for the Principal County only. On the fiche/electronic record for any Subsidiary Counties will be a memorandum detailing the fiche/electronic record where the actual copy of the deed is to be found. However, a minute for the deed will have to appear in each of the counties.

Sasine Intake will make a photocopy of the writ for each subsidiary county, stamping “MEM COPY” on its backing, and numbering it up as part of the normal daily intake. The original deed will be stamped “DOUBLE COUNTY” and numbered up as usual. Each county should be shown on each backing. Having been identified at intake stage, the drafting will be done out of turn. Intake checkers should have changed the Multiple County field to either ‘P’ for principal or ‘S’ for subsidiary county.

In the past, different counties were dealt with in different districts scattered throughout the Agency’s premises. Now, if it is at all possible, it is better for one drafter to deal with all the separate counties. If they have to be dealt with by more than one drafter, then communication between each officer is important and it is the duty of the person dealing with the principal county to co-ordinate the process, especially if the deed requires to be withdrawn, as it will have to be withdrawn from each county.

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