Is title insurance more important when buying from an estate?

Buying a property from an estate in Ontario can involve some additional title considerations that make title insurance particularly valuable. When a registered owner dies, their property passes to their estate and must eventually be transferred to beneficiaries or sold. The steps in between — obtaining a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee (probate), confirming the executor's authority, and transferring the property — create opportunities for errors or delays.

Common issues in estate sales include: questions about whether the estate trustee has proper legal authority to sell; missing or defective probate where required; possible undisclosed claims from heirs who believe they should benefit from the estate; and sometimes a longer title history that requires more searching to trace. Estate properties may also have gone without active maintenance or updates, meaning older encumbrances, undischarged mortgages from decades ago, or other historical title issues can lurk in the chain.

Title insurance protects you against these kinds of title defects that may surface after the fact. Your lawyer will review the estate documents as well as the title records to ensure the executor has proper authority to convey and that the transfer is correctly documented. But the nature of estate transactions means the possibility of a post-closing discovery is slightly higher, and title insurance is a sensible backstop.