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FAQs

​An Ownership Update is used to notify the Department that the ownership of land covered by a water right certificate has changed. Upon receipt of a completed Ownership Update, it is placed in the water right file record for reference; however, the formal Water Right Certificate itself remains unaltered. An Assignment is used to change the name on an application, permit, limited license, transfer, or registration.

​This is standard practice for many lending institutions. If there are permits or other unperfected rights on the land, they will frequently request to be assigned to the permit(s). After the obligation is satisfied, they will assign themselves off of the permit(s). 

​This can be dealt with in several ways. If the two people listed on the permit were a couple, a copy of the death certificate and documentation that the surviving person was the executor (or had right of survivorship in the deed) will solve the problem and allow the remaining permit holder to sign the Assignment form.  A copy of a court document showing the disbursement of property under a will or estate can also provide proof of ability to sign an Assignment form.

​If one of the parties involved in the divorce will be retaining the permit, one party may sign an Assignment form in order to assign the permit to the other party. If the permit is to be assigned to another entity entirely, it will either take the signature of both parties (i.e., permit holders) or a copy of a signed divorce decree giving one party the legal right to ownership of the permit or the authority to sign.

An Assignment changes the name on an application, permit, limited license, transfer, or Groundwater registration (i.e., non-perfected, non-certificated rights). This is similar to changing the name on the title of a car. An Assignment ensures that the Department knows who the water right record belongs to and who will be responsible for finalizing the right. For a perfected, certificated water right, an Ownership Update Form should be used to update the contact information. A transfer changes or modifies an existing water right. ​

​This would require an Assignment by proof of ownership. When the permit holder of record cannot be located, the party requesting Assignment may do so by providing proof of ownership. In this case, the person requesting the Assignment must provide proof that they own the property that is to be involved in the Assignment. Examples of acceptable “proof of ownership” include, but are not limited to: a copy of the deed to the land, a copy of a land sales contract, a court order or decree, documentation of survivorship of property jointly held.  The Department cannot accept a copy of a tax statement.