How Do I Get a Deceased Joint Owner Off the Title of a House in Ontario?

If you and the deceased owned the house as joint tenants, you generally remove their name by registering a survivorship application at the land registry. Joint tenancy carries a right of survivorship, so the surviving owner usually takes the deceased owner's interest automatically.

Registering an electronic document such as a survivorship application costs $86.42 from November 2, 2026. What you need to provide for the registration depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer. Where a spouse died owning an interest in a family residence as a joint tenant with a third party, the application must include a Family Law Act statement, which only a solicitor can make and sign.

Some situations do not follow the simple path. For a married spouse who held the matrimonial home jointly with someone other than their spouse, the joint tenancy is deemed severed immediately before death and the share goes into the estate. Probate is normally required where the deceased owned real property that must be dealt with through the estate. If the co-owners died together, each share goes through that person's own estate unless a contrary intention appears.