The surveyor's work had given the Mensah family something they had never had: a proper plan of their farmland. Kofi held it carefully, as if it might blow away.

"So now the land is registered?" Adwoa asked.

Her father shook his head. "Not yet. A plan shows where the land is. Registration is a different step. And Wofa Kwabena says we must first find out which route applies to us."

The Mensahs are a fictional family. Their story follows common situations that many Ghanaian families will recognise.

Why registration matters

Registration means placing a record of an interest in land on an official register. In Ghana, the Lands Commission keeps official land records.

Registration has important legal effects, but it does not mean that every underlying ownership question has automatically been resolved. That is why the earlier steps matter: knowing the family's history, who holds authority, and what the documents show. Alongside them, an official record can:

  • Make the family's interest easier to show to others, through official records rather than memory or private papers alone.
  • Help others check the land, because people can search official records before entering into a transaction.
  • Reduce uncertainty for the family and for anyone they deal with in future.

For these reasons, clear and properly registered records can increase confidence and make land easier to deal with if a family ever decides to lease or sell. They cannot, however, guarantee a buyer, a price or a loan.

There is no single route

This is the most important thing to understand: not every family follows the same process. The right route depends on:

  • Where the land is.
  • How the land is held. For example, family land, stool or skin land, or individually held land.
  • What interest is involved. For example, the family's own customary interest, a lease, or a transfer.

The Lands Commission lists deed registration and title registration as separate services, each with its own requirements. Depending on the route, the outcome may be a registered document or a land certificate. Not every family, or every interest, will end with the same result.

Customary institutions can also be part of the picture. Under the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036), stools, skins, clans and families that own land are to establish Customary Land Secretariats to manage their land. Their functions include recording interests and rights in land and keeping records of land transactions in their area. Where one exists, it may be relevant to your family's route.

Because requirements differ and can change, the best starting point is always current official information, not how it worked for someone else.

A family discusses its folder of land records with a staff member at a service desk.
The right registration route depends on the land and the interest involved.

Finding the right route

When Kofi and Wofa Kwabena visited the Lands Commission's client service unit, they took copies of their documents and the new site plan. They explained what land it was, how the family held it and what they wanted to achieve. The officers explained which route applied and what would be required.

Families can:

  • Ask the Lands Commission directly, through its offices or its client service unit.
  • Read the official service pages for deed registration, title registration and searches.
  • Use the official online portal to check application status and access available payment services.
  • Consult a lawyer where legal documents need to be prepared or reviewed, or where the situation is complicated.

Documents and supporting records

Registration usually depends on the right documents being in order. The Lands Commission's published requirements include, for example, a properly prepared document naming the parties, signatures and witnesses, and an approved site plan whose details match the document. Some routes involve further steps, such as stamping or additional approvals.

This is where the work from earlier articles pays off: the family history, the gathered documents and the professional site plan.

Searches, receipts and tracking

An official search checks what the official records show about a piece of land. It is especially important before any transaction, and it can reveal information the family needs to know.

As the process continues, keep careful records:

  • Every receipt, from official payments and from professionals.
  • Every reference number given for an application.
  • Dates and names: when something was submitted, and who you dealt with.

And understand the difference between stages. "Submitted" is not "registered." An application may take time and may need further steps. Keep track until official confirmation arrives.

Official fees are published by the Lands Commission and can change, so check the current fees page rather than relying on figures you have heard. Pay through official channels and keep the receipts. Be wary of anyone who offers to "speed things up" for an unofficial payment.

How you can help

  • Find and read the official pages with your parents.
  • Keep a simple tracker: what was submitted, when, the reference number and the next step.
  • Look after the receipts, keeping copies safe with the family's other papers.
  • Go along to appointments, if your family wants you to, to take notes.

Adwoa started a notebook just for this. Its first entry read: "Application submitted. Reference number written below. Status: submitted, not yet registered."

Questions to raise at home

  • "Do we know which registration route applies to our land?"
  • "Where are we keeping the receipts and reference numbers?"

What comes next

By now, the Mensahs' papers had grown: a site plan, receipts, notes, photographs and a recording of Nana Akosua's story. Adwoa wondered how to keep it all organised.

In the next article, From the Drawer to the Phone, we look at how digital copies and organised records can make family land easier to manage.

Sources (checked 24 October 2026)

Requirements and fees can change. Always check the Lands Commission's current guidance before acting.