Practice has shown that the best way to transfer ownership to one's relatives or potential heirs is to make such transfer during one's lifetime. This is because, in order to transfer ownership, the transferee has to previously consent and it will avoid any disputes later in the succession (if a secret will emerges, the parties are often taken by surprise by the testator's wishes and this can lead to disagreements amongst them). 

Ownership can be transferred in practice in one of the ways recognised by law, which is transfer with or without consideration.

An gift without consideration is when the transferee immediately receives, without providing anything in exchange, the asset described in the transfer deed by simply declaring that he/she is willing to receive it.

A gift with consideration is when the transferee has to provide something in exchange, either money or care services or by looking after the person who is transferring the asset. This includes the sale and transfer of ownership in consideration of the obligation to look after someone. In both cases, the ownership is transferred to the transferee when the notarial act is concluded as, under Bulgarian law, a sale is an agreement concluded when both parties have reached the agreement set out in the notarial deed (sale of a real estate asset) or in the written contract (sale of a movable asset). For certain objects, such as cars, the Road Traffic Act provides for a form other than the written form, such as notarial certification of the parties' signatures. Registration in the register kept by the registration agency does not transfer ownership per se, it only serves to publicise the transfer. Registration is essential towards third parties who may hold rights over the asset, as the first registration is deemed to have priority.

As regards the transfer of real estate assets, or rights in rem, the notary is under an obligation to lodge the transaction documents for registration the same day the transaction takes place, as per the legislation applicable to notaries and their activities.

The second way – transfer with consideration of care services or a financial obligation falls in the category of aleatory contracts.  When the transaction is concluded, the extent of the consideration to be provided by the party who has undertaken to provide care services until the end of the transferor's life in exchange for the asset is uncertain. The type of care service is set out in the transfer deed, but not the period for which such services will be provided for given that it's impossible to predict how long the transferor will live. This is a very common practice – elderly people will enjoy security beyond the available care services and the assets transferred provide an additional incentive and compensation for the services the transferor require. Hence, it is possible to transfer a real estate asset to a person other than a relative, a person whom the transferor trusts and whose care services he/she would like to receive.

Other ways which are not closely linked to settling ownership before succession are exchanging, sharing and transferring ownership with the intention of settling a debt. These also belong to the category of gifts for consideration because something is provided in exchange for something else. The consideration can be one of the following:

• in the case of replacement - a real estate or other asset,
• in case of sharing - distribution of jointly owned assets with the intention to terminate such joint ownership,
• in case of debt settlement, this is the method used instead of paying off the debt.