Chain of Title

Also known as: title chain, flow of title, title flow

The chain of title is the unbroken sequence of registered transfers running from the mother deed to the present owner, each link proving how the property passed to the next holder.

A break anywhere in the chain - an unregistered transfer, a deed executed by someone who was not the recorded owner, a transmission on death with no succession document, or a gap in years with no explaining instrument - leaves the current owner unable to prove derivation of right. Indian practice examines 30 years for institutional transactions, on the basis that most adverse claims will have surfaced within that window.

What it proves

That each successive owner derived their right lawfully from the previous one.