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Markovski & PartnersLaw firm · Kavadarci
Македонски

Short pieces on the questions we hear most. General information, not advice on your matter.

The spines of old leather-bound books side by side, tooled with small ornaments.

  1. Agriculture and wine

    Leasing a vineyard: five questions to settle before you sign2 min read

  2. Employment

    When a service contract is really employment2 min read

  3. Family and inheritance

    Inheritance without a dispute: what to prepare in good time2 min read

  4. Property and construction

    Adding a floor or an extension: the documents in order2 min read

Agriculture and wine

2 min read

A vineyard lease usually runs for years, so ownership, the term, costs, the harvest and registration should be clear before anyone signs.

Across Tikveš, vineyards are often leased on a handshake, between relatives and neighbours. That works while everyone agrees. In a dispute, it is hard to prove what was agreed. So whether you own the vines or will farm them, settle these five questions before you sign.

First, who owns the parcel. Ask the cadastre for a recently issued property sheet. It shows whether the person leasing out the vineyard is the registered owner, whether the parcel is recorded as a vineyard, its area, and any mortgage or other encumbrance. If there are several co-owners, have them all sign. If the sheet still names an owner who has died, have all the heirs sign, or better, let probate finish first.

Second, the term and how it ends. Vines need investment that pays back over years, so a short lease rarely suits the tenant. Set out the term, whether it can be renewed and how much notice either side must give to end it. Have the lease end after the harvest, not mid-season.

Third, who pays for what. Day-to-day work usually falls to the tenant. Disputes arise over what outlasts a season: new vines to replace dead ones, posts and wire, irrigation. Say who pays for each, who bears the charges on the land and water, and who claims the subsidies, so that no parcel is claimed twice.

Fourth, an early end. If the lease ends before the harvest, who takes the crop? What happens to vines the tenant has planted? They stay with the land, so the contract should say whether the tenant is compensated, and by how much.

Fifth, form and registration. Put the lease in writing, with signatures certified by a notary. Check, too, whether it must be declared anywhere, for example in the farm and vineyard registers: subsidies and selling the grapes can depend on it. If you wish, bring the property sheet and the draft, and we will go through them together.

By Aleksandar Markovski

This is general information, not legal advice on your matter. For that, book a meeting.

Employment

2 min read

Whether it is employment depends not on the contract's title but on how the work is actually done.

A service contract is for a defined piece of work with a clear end: making or repairing something, a project, a service. The person doing it decides how and when to finish it, and is paid for the result. Employment, as the Law on Labour Relations describes it, is something else: a person works personally and continuously for an employer, on the employer's instructions and under its supervision, for a wage.

Some signs suggest that a service contract is really employment in disguise. The person comes in every day, at fixed hours. They work on the company's premises, with its equipment. They take tasks from a manager rather than an order for a single result. They are paid the same amount each month, however much has been finished. The contract is renewed month after month, for years. No single sign decides it: the whole picture does.

Why it matters: someone on a service contract lacks the rights employment brings, such as paid annual leave and protection on dismissal. A labour inspector looks at how the work is done, not only at what the contract says. The worker can also go to court to protect their rights.

If you are an employer and recognise some of these signs, put the situation right early. Sign an employment contract, register the person for compulsory social insurance, and set out working hours and leave. If the work really is a one-off, let the service contract show it: a clear task, a completion date, payment for the result and freedom in how the work is done.

If, on the other hand, you are engaged on a service contract but work like any other employee every day, your rights depend on what can be shown: rotas, messages assigning tasks, an entry pass, payments. Keep them.

By Katerina Ilievska

This is general information, not legal advice on your matter. For that, book a meeting.

Family and inheritance

2 min read

A will in the proper form, property in order and an open conversation with your heirs can make probate shorter and simpler.

Inheritance disputes rarely start from bad intentions. More often they start from an unclear will, property that was never properly registered, or heirs who learnt of a decision only after a death. All three can be put in order in good time.

A will is valid only if made in a form the Law on Inheritance prescribes. A handwritten will must be written and signed entirely in your own hand. A will can also be made before witnesses, at a court or with a notary, and the court or notary can keep it safe. Close family, such as children and a spouse, are entitled to a reserved share that a will cannot freely take from them. Ignore it, and a dispute often follows.

Next, the property. Are the house, fields and vineyards recorded in the cadastre in your name, with the right areas? Is there a building that was never registered, or land still in a late parent's name? Each can lengthen probate. List bank accounts, vehicles, company shares and debts too: debts pass to the heirs with the property, up to the value of what they inherit.

Talk to your heirs while you can still explain. If one child looked after you, or you have already helped someone with money or a flat, tell them why the will is as it is. Heirs accept a decision they heard from you more readily than one they first read at the notary's.

Probate, put simply, establishes what the deceased left and who inherits what. In practice a notary runs it on the court's behalf. The notary calls the heirs, opens the will if there is one, establishes the estate and issues a decision on inheritance. The property is then registered in the heirs' names on the strength of that decision.

When the heirs agree, probate is shorter. When someone contests the will or the property, the dispute goes to court and probate waits. If you wish, we can go through your documents together before you make your will.

By Ivana Petkovska

This is general information, not legal advice on your matter. For that, book a meeting.

Property and construction

2 min read

For an extra floor or an extension, the documents come in a set order, and a skipped step usually costs months.

An extension enlarges the existing house; an extra floor goes on top of it. Under the Law on Construction both are building work, so as a rule each needs a building permit, as a new house does. Months are lost when the documents come in the wrong order. Here is the order.

First, what the plan allows. Ask the municipality for an extract from the urban plan for your plot: it shows where you may build, how high, and how much of the plot may be built on. Check the property sheet too: the existing house should be recorded in the cadastre, and if it is not, that comes first. If the house is co-owned, by siblings for instance, reach agreement with the co-owners before any design work.

Second, the design. The main design is drawn up by a licensed design firm from the extract and, where the law requires, independently reviewed. For an extra floor, it must show that the existing walls and foundations can carry it. A design commissioned before the plan is checked is often drawn twice.

Third, the building permit. The application goes in with the design and proof of your right to build, such as the property sheet. For a family house the municipality usually issues it. Do not start work until the permit is final, that is, until it can no longer be challenged.

Fourth, the notifications. Before work starts, notify the authority that issued the permit and the building inspectorate, within the period the law sets. Arrange supervision of the works too, and a contractor qualified for that kind of building.

Fifth, inspection. A building inspector may call without notice to check that you are building to the permit and the design. Any departure, even a small one, can lead to the works being stopped. When the work is finished, there is a technical inspection where required, then registration in the cadastre based on a surveyor's report. Only then does the new part exist on paper too.

By Damjan Jovanovski

This is general information, not legal advice on your matter. For that, book a meeting.

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