Removing a Deceased Owner From Title in Ontario Without Probate

A co-owner has died and the land registry still shows their name on title. You may want to sell, refinance or simply tidy up the record, and you are wondering whether you must go through probate first.

The answer turns on how the two of you held title and on what else is true about the property. This article walks through the usual paths in Ontario, the main exceptions, and what to gather before you speak to a lawyer.

Start with how title was held

Check the deed or a parcel register to see whether the owners are shown as joint tenants or as tenants in common. This one detail decides most of what follows.

• Joint tenants have a right of survivorship, so the deceased owner's interest passes automatically to the surviving owner.
• Tenants in common each own a separate share, and the deceased's share does not pass by survivorship. Property of a person who dies vests in the personal representative (estate trustee), who holds it for the people entitled to it.
• If you and the other owner died at the same time, or it is uncertain who survived, joint tenants are generally treated as tenants in common unless a contrary intention appears, and each share goes through that person's own estate.

If you were joint tenants

In the simple case, the property already belongs to you by survivorship, and the registry record needs to be updated. This is done by a survivorship application, which is an electronic registration. The electronic registration fee is $86.42, which took effect on November 2, 2026.

Ontario's Estate Administration Tax guidance also leaves out jointly owned assets that pass automatically to the other owner when valuing an estate.

Exceptions that can pull the property into the estate

Survivorship is not always the end of the story. Watch for these situations.

If you say the transfer was a gift, you must prove the transferor's contrary intention at the time of the transfer, on a balance of probabilities. Evidence close to the time of the transfer carries the most weight, and later self-serving evidence is treated with caution.

If the deceased's share is in the estate

Where the deceased owned a share as a tenant in common, or the joint tenancy was severed, someone with legal authority must deal with it. Ontario guidance says probate, meaning a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee from the Superior Court of Justice, is normally required where the deceased owned real property. If the property must be sold, the certificate should be obtained before anyone signs an agreement of purchase and sale.

There are limited exceptions. For some properties, a transmission application generally does not need a certificate when it is the first dealing since the Ministry converted the property from Registry to Land Titles, but a covenant to indemnify the Land Titles Assurance Fund must be provided whenever a certificate is not applied for. A small estate valued at $150,000 or less may apply for a Small Estate Certificate, which gives authority only over the assets listed in it. Whether any exception fits your property depends on the facts, and buyers' lawyers and title insurers may set their own requirements.

Probate has a cost. For certificates applied for on or after January 1, 2020, there is no Estate Administration Tax on estates of $50,000 or less, and $15 for every $1,000 (or part) of value above $50,000. Ontario real estate counts at its date-of-death value less mortgages and other encumbrances.

Transferring to a beneficiary: tax and fees

A conveyance from the estate trustee to a beneficiary who receives the property in satisfaction of their beneficial interest is not subject to land transfer tax, and consideration is shown as nil in the affidavit. That changes if something is paid. Consideration includes the assumption of liabilities, so tax is payable on a mortgage balance outstanding at registration, apart from certain spousal transfers, and a beneficiary who pays to buy out other heirs may owe tax because nil tax applies only where no consideration of any kind passes.

Registering the transfer is also an electronic registration, with the $86.42 fee noted above. Separately, a deceased owner is generally deemed to have disposed of capital property at fair market value just before death, which can have income tax consequences, although a principal residence may be wholly or partly exempt. An accountant can confirm how this applies.

What to do next

• Get a current parcel register and the deed to confirm how title was held.
• Obtain a death certificate and look for a will and any mortgage on the property.
• Note whether the deceased was married, and whether anyone other than a spouse was on title.
• Find out whether a parent added a child to title and, if so, collect any records from that time.
• Do not sign an agreement of purchase and sale for the deceased's share until you have confirmed what authority is needed.
• Speak with a lawyer about the survivorship application, or about the estate trustee appointment, before filing anything.

Frequently asked questions