I move amendment No. 65:
In page 13, before section 13, to insert the following new section:
13.—(1) No court fee shall be payable in respect of a certified copy of an order of the court under section 6 (1).
(2) No fee shall be payable in respect of registration in the Land Registry under section 6 (7) (a), 7 (2) (a) or 8 (1) (a) or registration in the Registry of Deeds of a document referred to in section 6 (7), 7 (2) (b) or 8 (1) (b).".
This amendment replaces the existing text of section 13 which provided that no stamp duties be payable on agreements under section 7 in relation to opting out. This provision is no longer necessary because of the earlier amendment to that section which replaces an opting out agreement made by both spouses with a unilateral declaration by the spouse who benefits from the operation of section 4.
The Revenue Commissioners are examining the matter of stamp duty and, if necessary, I will move an amendment on Report Stage to make it clear that no stamp duty will be payable. It is also desirable to clarify the position about liability for court fees for a certified copy of a court order under section 6(1) which disapplies section 4 and also about liability for payment of registration fees from registering a declaration under sections 6, 7 or 8.
Section 14 of the Family Home Protection Act exempts from payment of these fees any transaction creating a joint tenancy between spouses in respect of a family home but this exemption may not be adequate to deal with the automatic vesting of a joint tenancy by virtue of the enactment of this Bill. It is better to provide expressly for an exemption from court and registration fees in those circumstances. I am sure Members will be pleased with that amendment.
