Hi Linda,

In fact I am doing my best to find time for the forum too. I love this place after all.

Hello Victoria,

Please tell me whether you've purchased in Hurghada or in Sharm. Your post gives me the feeling that you've purchased a 99 years usufruct right in Sharm.

Assuming this is the case, then the contract has been verified for signature by court "Signature Validity" since the notary does not stamp contracts for registration except in few cases which, however, are very unlikely not to be your case, but if you can upload your stamped contract to RapidShare: Easy Filehosting and provide me with the download link in PM, I would check it for you and tell you more about the exact situation free of charge.

However, and since I am 95% sure that what happened is that it is a usufruct contract, where you purchased directly from the previous owner, I strongly recommend that you pay the developer the name-change fee, get a new contract in your name directly from the developer, and make sure your next of kin is / are mentioned either in the body of the contract (as next of kin) or in the Second Party space as joint purchasers.

All the best,

Zeiad Yehia
Solicitor