Transmission of Property to a Surviving Spouse or Child

On the death of a homeowner, a personal representative gains title to the home, if dealing with land, and gains the powers of the deceased, if dealing with a charge. Generally, your Burnaby notary will make any proceeds from the sale of property payable to the estate, initially, before dealing with any transfers to beneficiaries. There are two types of properties that may be impacted by estate transmissions: properties in the land title registry and properties in the manufactured home registry.

Residential Properties

Your notary can help you to file transmissions to deal with the deceased’s property: transmissions to a surviving joint tenant; transmissions where the deceased holds property as a tenant in common; transmissions from a personal representative to a beneficiary; as well as the transmission of mortgages. In the standard CBA real estate contract, the wording suggests that “any reference to a party includes that party’s heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns” meaning that the contract imposes a contractual obligation for the estate to complete the transaction.  Similarly, a mortgage agreement may state that it is binding on your heirs and your personal representatives including anyone the lender assigns the mortgage agreement to. Your Burnaby notary can help you to navigate some of the critical decisions.

Manufactured Homes

Your notary can help with transmissions after the death of the registered owner of a manufactured home in the following circumstances: testator has a will under $25,000.00 excluding joint assets and insurance; testator has a will valued over $25,000.00 transmission on the death of a transmissions to a surviving joint tenant; and transmission due to the actions of a secured party; and transmissions due to a court order. If the client died intestate, you should speak with a lawyer even if the estate is valued at under $25,000.00.

Paul Williams is a Notary Public practicing in Burnaby, B.C. Please contact him with any questions you may have about transmissions after the death of a registered owner of the property.