What Happens to the Family Home When a Spouse Dies in Newfoundland and Labrador?

After a spouse dies, one of the first worries is the house. Can you stay? Does it become yours automatically, or does it have to go through the estate? The answer depends mainly on how title to the home was held.

This article walks through the three main routes in Newfoundland and Labrador: joint ownership, the will or intestacy rules, and the Family Law Act. It cannot say how your own house is registered, so confirm that early.

This article covers the law of Newfoundland and Labrador.

If the home was owned jointly

Where spouses held the matrimonial home as joint tenants, the surviving spouse takes it by right of survivorship. Beneficial ownership vests in the survivor without probate or estate administration.

This rule is specific to the matrimonial home held jointly by spouses. Check the title documents to see how the home is held. If they are unclear, a lawyer can review them.

If the home was in the deceased's name alone

If the deceased held land solely in their own name, an executor who needs to sell or transfer it requires a grant. Where there is no executor, an administrator must be appointed by the Supreme Court. Probate is not legally required, but without a grant the executor cannot prove the right to deal with estate assets.

The court grants Letters of Probate to the named executor and administration to next of kin. For administration where there is no will, priority runs from the spouse, to children, parents, siblings, grandparents, then creditors and the Crown, subject to the judge's discretion.

Who ends up owning the house then depends on the will, or on the intestacy rules if there is no will.

What the will or intestacy rules say

A will may leave the home to the spouse or to someone else. Without a will, the Intestate Succession Act sets shares.

Those shares apply to the estate as a whole, not to the house on its own. Whether the home is kept by the spouse or sold to fund shares depends on the circumstances and on the executor or administrator.

Family Law Act and Family Relief Act rights

A surviving spouse's Family Law Act rights are in addition to rights arising on intestacy or by will. A surviving spouse may apply to divide matrimonial assets equally within 1 year after the first spouse's death. That deadline can be extended on reasonable grounds, good-faith delay and no substantial prejudice. 'Spouse' includes people married to each other, and for applications it includes a widow or widower.

Separately, a dependant, meaning a spouse, cohabiting partner or child, may apply under the Family Relief Act where a will does not make adequate provision for maintenance and support, or where an intestate share is inadequate. The application must be made within 6 months after the grant, though a judge may allow it for any undistributed part of the estate. A cohabiting partner needs continuous conjugal cohabitation outside marriage for at least 2 years, or at least 1 year if they are together the parents of a child.

The court can order provision despite the will, suspend administration, and stop distribution once notice is served.

What to do next

Whether you can remain in the home while the estate is settled depends on who owns it and what the will says. Do not assume either way. Get the facts first.

• Get a copy of the title or deed to see whether the home is held jointly.
• Locate the will, and find out who the executor is.
• Note the date of death, so you can track the 1-year Family Law Act deadline.
• Note the date of any grant, so you can track the 6-month Family Relief Act deadline.
• Speak with a lawyer before signing anything that transfers or sells the home.

Frequently asked questions