What is a certificate of pending litigation and when does it come up in family cases?

A certificate of pending litigation is a notice that can be registered against the title of a specific piece of real property, alerting anyone dealing with that property, such as a potential buyer or lender, that there's a court case underway that could affect an interest in it. In family cases, it can come up where a spouse's claim genuinely touches on ownership or an interest in a particular property, such as the matrimonial home or another property alleged to be subject to a trust or ownership dispute, rather than simply a general equalization or support claim.

Registering one effectively puts a hold on dealings with the property until the underlying claim is resolved or the certificate is removed, since a buyer or lender will generally be unwilling to proceed once they're on notice of the dispute. Because registering a certificate of pending litigation can have significant practical effects on the other party's ability to sell or refinance a property, courts don't grant it automatically — the person seeking it generally needs to show a genuine claim to an interest in the specific property, not just a broader financial claim. Anyone considering this step should get legal advice on whether their claim actually supports it.