How to Add Your Spouse to Your Land Title in Alberta

If you are the only name on your land title and want your spouse added, the process is mostly paperwork. The choices you make on that paperwork, though, affect what happens if one of you dies, how a separation might be handled, and what you owe in fees and tax.

This article walks through the usual steps in Alberta: the form, the type of co-ownership, dower, the registration levy, the tax side, and what happens on a death. Your situation may have extra details, such as a mortgage or farmland, so treat this as a general guide.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Start with the Transfer of Land form

To add or remove a name on title, you use the Transfer of Land form, and it must be signed by all current registered owners. If you are the sole owner, that means you sign as the transferor.

The form asks for the full names of the current owners, the full names and addresses of the new owners, the full legal land description (not the civic address), the consideration (the amount paid, if any), and the name and address of the witness to the transferors' signatures. Alberta law also allows a husband to transfer land to his wife, and a wife to her husband, without the intervention of a trustee.

Choose joint tenancy or tenancy in common

Before you sign, decide how the two of you will hold the land. This choice is written into the transfer, so it is the most important one on the form.

For spouses, the rule is not automatic. Where land is transferred to a husband and wife, they take according to the tenor of the transfer, so they are joint tenants only if the transfer says so. More generally, where land is transferred to two or more people who are not taking as executors or trustees, they take as tenants in common unless an intention to take as joint tenants sufficiently appears on the instrument.

Check whether dower applies

The Dower Act says a married person may not dispose of the homestead unless the spouse consents in writing, or the Court has dispensed with consent. A homestead must have the owner's residence on it, and is limited to one quarter section outside a city, town or village, or up to 4 adjoining lots in a block in a city, town or village.

Land Titles notes that where dower requirements apply and there is only one current owner, a dower option is needed, such as spousal consent and acknowledgement, a dower affidavit, a release, or a court order dispensing with consent. Adding a spouse to title is a case where the transfer is between married persons.

There is an exception: if a married person owns the land as a joint tenant, tenant in common or partial owner with someone other than the spouse, the Dower Act does not apply to that land. Whether your land counts as a homestead can be a detailed question, so ask a lawyer if you are unsure.

Registration levy, payment and where to submit

The transfer registration levy is $50 plus $5 for each $5000 or portion thereof of the value of the land, and it is paid by the transferee. For example, land valued at $200,000 gives $50 + (40 × $5) = $250.

The levy rose from $2 per $5,000 on transfers to $5 per $5,000 for submissions received on or after October 20, 2024. Some transfers are excepted from the levy, such as a transfer correcting an error or reversing an aborted sale. Other Land Titles fees may also apply, so confirm the current total before you submit.

Fees are due at submission. In person, Land Titles accepts cash, a cheque payable to the Government of Alberta, or credit or debit. Forms and documents are mailed or delivered to a Land Titles office in Edmonton or Calgary. In-person service was noted as paused, with phone and email support available, so check current options first.

Understand the tax side

A gift of capital property to a spouse or common-law partner generally produces no capital gain or loss. The transferor is treated as receiving the adjusted cost base, and the spouse as acquiring at the same amount, under subsection 73(1) of the Income Tax Act.

You may elect not to have subsection 73(1) apply, in the return for the year of transfer, in which case proceeds are deemed to equal fair market value. If your spouse later sells, you usually report the gain (called attribution) while you are a Canadian resident and still married or common-law, except where you live apart due to relationship breakdown and an election is filed.

Whether the home is your principal residence can also matter. A family can designate only one home per year, and the sale and designation must be reported on the return. A tax professional can confirm how this applies to you.

If a spouse dies, and what to do next

If you hold as joint tenants and one spouse dies, the share goes to the survivor. To update title, you use the Statutory Declaration regarding Proof of Death with an original or notarized copy of an accepted death certificate or similar document. On written application with the required documentation, the Registrar shall cancel the certificate of title and grant a new one in the name of the surviving joint tenant.

• Decide between joint tenancy and tenancy in common, and make sure the transfer says which.
• Confirm whether dower applies and gather the consent, affidavit, release or court order if needed.
• Get the full legal land description from your current title, not the civic address.
• Arrange for a witness to your signature on the Transfer of Land form.
• Work out the levy and have payment ready at submission.
• Talk to an accountant about the tax election and attribution.
• If you have a mortgage, check your mortgage contract and speak with your lender before transferring.

Frequently asked questions