"Can I just put my partner on the title?" It's one of the most common questions we get, and the honest answer is: sometimes yes, without duty — but the exemptions are narrower than most people assume, and getting it wrong is expensive.
Here's where duty genuinely doesn't apply, and where it does no matter how the transfer is described.
The main exemption: transfers between spouses
NSW exempts transfers of a principal place of residence between married or de facto partners, where the result is that you own the property together in equal shares.
Read that carefully, because each part is doing work:
- Principal place of residence — or the site of one. The home you actually live in, or vacant land (or land with a building under construction) that you both intend to use as the site of your home. An investment property doesn't qualify, even between spouses.
- Equal shares. The transfer has to leave you as joint owners in equal shares. Moving from 100/0 to 70/30 does not qualify.
- Married, or de facto for at least two years. De facto partners must have been living in the relationship for at least two years before the date of the transfer. You'll also need to evidence the relationship — usually a statutory declaration.
Meet every condition and the transfer is exempt from duty — though it still has to be lodged with Revenue NSW with supporting evidence, and Land Registry fees still apply. Miss one and duty is assessed on the market value of the share transferred — not on what you paid, which is often nothing.
That last point catches people. Transferring half of an $800,000 home to your partner for no money isn't a $0 transaction in Revenue NSW's eyes. If it isn't exempt, duty is calculated on the $400,000 share being transferred.
Relationship breakdowns
Transfers of property between separating spouses can also be exempt, but only where the transfer is made under the right kind of instrument — typically a court order or a binding financial agreement made under family law.
An informal agreement between two reasonable people, no matter how amicable and well-intentioned, is not enough. The paperwork has to exist in the correct form before the transfer, not after. This is one of the few places where doing things in the wrong order costs real money that can't be recovered.
If you're separating and property is moving, get the family law documentation right first. Then the transfer is straightforward.
Deceased estates
Property passing to a beneficiary under a will — or under the intestacy rules where there's no will — attracts concessional duty rather than the full rate, provided the transfer conforms with what the will or those rules actually require. It's a nominal amount rather than a percentage of value: not automatically free, but a very long way from standard duty.
There's a separate process to get there, and it's covered in our post on deceased estate transfers.
Where people expect an exemption and there isn't one
Parent to child. There is no general family exemption in NSW. Transferring the family home to your children attracts duty on market value, even if no money changes hands. This surprises people constantly, and it's the single most common misunderstanding we deal with.
Adding someone to the title who isn't your spouse. A sibling, a friend, an adult child buying in — duty applies to the share transferred.
Transfers into a trust or company. Generally dutiable, and sometimes with additional consequences worth advice before you act.
"But we're not selling it, we're just changing the names." Duty is charged on the transfer of an interest in land. Whether money changes hands doesn't determine liability — it only affects how the value is worked out.
Duty isn't the only tax in the room
An exemption from transfer duty doesn't make a transfer tax-free. Transferring property can trigger capital gains tax for the person giving it up, and it can change your land tax position. A parent transferring the family home to an adult child is the clearest example, and the CGT bill regularly dwarfs the duty saving.
That's an accountant's question rather than a conveyancer's, and it's worth asking before you commit rather than after. We'll tell you where the line is, and work alongside your accountant on the transfer itself.
Getting the valuation right
Where duty does apply and no money is changing hands, Revenue NSW assesses on market value. For anything other than a very straightforward case, that usually means a valuation.
Don't guess this figure. An understated value that's later reassessed brings interest and penalties with it, and it turns a finished matter back into an open one.
How we handle transfers at Malko Conveyancing
Transfers are a big part of what Malko Conveyancing handles, and the first thing we do is tell you honestly whether an exemption applies — before you've committed to anything.
If it does, we prepare the transfer and the supporting evidence Revenue NSW requires, and lodge it correctly the first time. If it doesn't, you'll know the actual duty figure up front rather than discovering it after the fact.
If you're thinking about restructuring who's on a title, book a free 15-minute call before you do anything. Five minutes on the phone at the start regularly saves people tens of thousands of dollars.
Tanya Kats is the Director of Malko Conveyancing and a Licensed Conveyancer in NSW. This article is general information and not legal advice for any specific matter.