Memorandum  Memo: Voluntary Withdrawal Cases Involving Land Encumbered by a Fee Taking

Date:	08/21/2026
Organization:	Land Court
Referenced Sources:	G.L. c. 185, § 52 G.L. c. 79, § 4

To: All Registered Land Registry Districts
From: Christina T. Geaney, Chief Title Examiner
Date: August 21, 2026, effective September 1, 2026

This memorandum supplements the Chief Title Examiner Memorandum dated January 27, 2025, Land Court Guideline 63 (Voluntary Withdrawal, G.L. c. 185, § 52) and Guideline 64 (Withdrawal From Registration, G.L. c. 183A, § 16).

I. Announcement of New Policy

Effective September 1, 2026, the Land Court will require the Plaintiff(s) in all voluntary withdrawal cases to provide notice to (or submit an assent from) the taking authority — if the land being withdrawn from the land registration system has been the subject of a fee taking that affects less than the entire parcel shown on the Land Court plan.¹ Whenever the land sought to be withdrawn has been the subject of a partial fee taking, the Land Court will issue a citation to the taking authority — unless the taking authority already has assented to withdrawal.

Once that citation has issued, the Plaintiff(s) must either:

1. Obtain and file a written assent to withdrawal signed by the taking authority;² or
2. Mail the citation, with copies of the complaint and the notice of voluntary withdrawal to the taking authority by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the taking authority does not file an objection within 30 days following service of the citation, the Plaintiff(s) shall file with the Court an affidavit certifying service along with proof of service on the taking authority. Failure of the taking authority to object timely will waive any objection to withdrawal of the entire parcel, including as to the land acquired under the fee taking.

If it objects, the taking authority must:

1. File an objection to the complaint at the Land Court within 30 days following the service of the citation; and
2. Clearly state in the objection whether the taking authority intends to file promptly a subsequent to registration case to create a new plan and obtain a new certificate of title for the portion of the land subject to the fee taking. In general, an objection by the taking authority to withdrawal of the land will not be sustained unless the taking authority shows it will proceed promptly to have a plan of the taking authority’s fee parcel prepared and approved, and to have a new certificate of title issued for that parcel.

II. Reason for New Policy

For registered land, a fee taking is registered and noted on the memoranda of encumbrances on each applicable certificate of title. See G.L. c. 79, § 4. If the fee taking affects less than the entire parcel shown on the Land Court plan and the taking authority does not file a subsequent complaint to create a new plan and obtain a new certificate of title in its name, the property description on the certificate of title is generally not amended and the fee taking is simply carried forward on the memoranda of encumbrances of any new certificate of title. As a result, many of the property descriptions in certificates of title encumbered by a fee taking continue to include land that may be subject to the fee taking and owned in fee by the taking authority.

Currently, the property description prepared by the Land Court in a voluntary withdrawal case explicitly excludes from the withdrawn land any fee taking noted on the memoranda of encumbrances. However, because of this, the Registry Districts have been required to keep the certificate of title open as to the land subject to the fee taking. This creates an additional administrative step for both the Land Court and the Registry Districts and results in certificates remaining open for small parcels of land not depicted on an updated Land Court plan.

Going forward, the Land Court will no longer exclude from the property description of withdrawn land any of it which is subject to a fee taking that is only noted on the memoranda of encumbrances. Therefore, unless there is a valid objection by a taking authority, and the taking authority submits for approval a plan of the land it has taken in fee (with an application for a new certificate of title), any portion of land within a certificate that is owned by the taking authority following a fee taking (and noted on the memoranda of encumbrances), will also be withdrawn and become unregistered land.

1. If the entire parcel of land shown on the Land Court plan was subject to the fee taking, that parcel may not be withdrawn until a new certificate of title is issued in the name of the taking authority. See Chief Title Examiner Memorandum dated January 27, 2025, Land Court Guideline 63 (Voluntary Withdrawal, G.L. c. 185, 52) and Guideline 64 (Withdrawal From Registration, G.L. c. 183A, 16), FN 7 (“If the plaintiff-public entity is not the registered owner of the land, the plaintiff-public entity must first file a separate complaint subsequent to registration to have a new certificate of title issued in its name prior to withdrawal.”).
2. The required “Assent of Taking Authority to the Voluntary Withdrawal of Land from the Registration System, G.L. c. 185, § 52,” form is available on the Land Court’s website.