Further re-Forms to conveyancing in Tasmania

Consistent with e-conveyancing practice, parties to paper Land Titles Office Transfers, Mortgages and Discharge of Mortgages will no longer sign documents. What you need to know about the new LTO Forms

The Recorder of Titles has introduced new approved forms under the Land Titles Act 1980 to streamline property transactions and improve compliance. These changes affect anyone lodging instruments with the Land Titles Office.

In short, in the case of the dealings for which new forms have been published, the parties no longer sign the documents themselves. Each party must be represented by a subscriber (Subscriber) and an authorised person from the Subscriber (Signer) will sign the document.

What’s changing?

• Certifications provided under the Recorders Direction are now included on the face of the forms.
• A Signer must sign the form.
• There is no longer witnessing requirements.

New forms are available from 17 November 2025

New forms are available for the following dealings and applications:

• Transfer
• Mortgage
• Discharge of Mortgage
• Application to Change or Correct Name
• Application to Note Marriage or Revert to Maiden Name

Previous versions of these forms will be phased out. Additional forms will be rolled out gradually, with notice provided for each.

Wet ink signing of documents by the Signer is still required.

Why this matters

These changes have been made so that the paper conveyancing process now aligns with the electronic conveyancing process, i.e. in PEXA, the Signer digitally signs the dealings electronically on behalf of the party. This is now the same in the case of “wet ink” paper dealings that will continue to be used in Tasmania for the foreseeable future.

The changes should streamline execution of documents and reduce administrative burden where multiple vendors or mortgagees are involved – instead of chasing multiple signatures from different parties (which can cause delays), a single authorised Signer can now sign on behalf of all parties once proper authority is confirmed.

Who signs the document

• Transfer – will now be signed by both the Transferor’s Subscriber and the Transferee’s Subscriber.
• Mortgage – will now be signed by the Mortgagee’s Subscriber (whereas previously the Mortgagor signed the Mortgage). However, the Mortgagee must hold an identical duplicate of the Mortgage signed by the Mortgagor.
• Discharge of Mortgage – will now be signed by the Mortgagee’s Subscriber.

Transition period

• Effective Date: 17 November 2025.
• Transition Period: 90 days (until 15 February 2026).
• From 16 February 2026, only new forms will be accepted (including where an old form has been used and is dated prior to this date).
• Special rule for Discharges of Mortgage: If prepared, executed and dated on or before 15 February 2026, they will still be accepted after this date.

What you need to do

• Check your forms now – ensure you’re using the latest versions.
• Access approved forms via the Tasmanian Online Land Dealings (TOLD) System.
• Adopt use of the new forms now, given that the transition period relates to lodgement date and note the date of the document being lodged – this will help avoid issues where a document is dated prior to 15 February 2026, but lodged after this date (and therefore not registerable).

Stay ahead of compliance changes – update your processes today.
For more details, contact a member of Page Seager’s Property & Planning team.