Transferring Alberta Land Title After a Death: Land Titles Steps

When an owner of Alberta land dies, the title does not update itself. Someone has to give Land Titles the right documents for the situation so the title shows who now holds the land.

The first question is how the land was owned. That decides whether you are a survivor applying directly, or a personal representative who first needs a court grant. This article walks through both routes in plain terms.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Start with how title is held

Alberta land titles are kept under the Torrens system created by the Land Titles Act, and the government is responsible for the security of registered title information. Your first step is to look at the current certificate of title and see whether the owners are joint tenants or tenants in common.

Be careful with assumptions. Tenancy in common is the default if joint tenancy is not specified, and a transfer to two or more people, other than as executors or trustees, creates a tenancy in common unless the document sufficiently shows an intention to take as joint tenants. Spouses are not automatically joint tenants either; they are joint tenants only if the transfer says so.

Route one: a surviving joint tenant

If you were a joint tenant, the deceased owner's share goes to you and the other surviving owners. You prove the death to Land Titles using the Statutory Declaration regarding Proof of Death.

With it you provide an original or notarized copy of a Vital Statistics, Medical Examiner's, funeral director's or cremation certificate. For a death outside Alberta, a comparable document is accepted, and only an original death certificate is returned to you.

On written application with the required documentation, the Registrar cancels the certificate of title and grants a new certificate in the name of the surviving joint tenant.

Route two: a personal representative

If the deceased was a tenant in common or the sole owner, the land vests in the personal representative. That is the executor named in a will or an administrator appointed by the court.

• Obtain a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration from the Surrogate Court of Alberta.
• File an Application for Transmission to Personal Representative with the original filed grant.
• Do not send a notarized copy of the grant, because it is unacceptable.
• If the grant came from another jurisdiction, it must be re-sealed by the Surrogate Court of Alberta.

Transmission puts the personal representative on title. What happens next, such as passing the land to a beneficiary or selling it to a buyer, depends on the will and the circumstances, so it is worth confirming the next step with a lawyer.

Points that can complicate things

• Spouses: for six months after the grant, an executor must not distribute any part of the estate to a beneficiary without the consent of the living spouse, and is personally liable if that is not followed.
• Passing the land on after transmission depends on the estate and the documents involved, so confirm the right steps and forms before you file. Where a Transfer of Land form is used, it asks for the full legal land description rather than the civic address.
• Where a transfer is registered, the transfer registration levy is $50 plus $5 for each $5000 or portion of the land's value, paid by the transferee, though some transfers are excepted, such as one correcting an error. Whether a levy or other charge applies to your particular filing is worth confirming with Land Titles before you submit.

Mortgage terms, unregistered claims and caveats on the title can also matter. A caveat can be filed by a person claiming an interest arising under a will, trust, transfer or specified statute, so read the title for those entries.

What to do next

• Order a current copy of the certificate of title and confirm how the land is held.
• Gather the death certificate and the will, if there is one.
• Decide whether you are a survivor or a personal representative.
• Apply to the Surrogate Court of Alberta for the grant if the land is not held jointly.
• Mail or deliver your documents to the Edmonton or Calgary Land Titles office, and check current submission options because in-person service was noted as paused.

If the estate is contested, there is a mortgage, or the family is divided, a lawyer can confirm the correct order of steps before you file.

Frequently asked questions