Who Can Witness Your Signature on a Home Transfer or Mortgage in Alberta?

When you buy or sell a home in Alberta, you sign a transfer and, if there is a loan, a mortgage. It is easy to think the signature is the moment everything becomes official. It is not, and the way the documents are witnessed can decide whether Land Titles will accept them.

This article explains the witnessing rules in plain terms: who can witness, what is different if you sign outside Alberta, and who is not allowed to act. It also explains why a lawyer's office usually handles the signing, without suggesting the law makes that mandatory.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Why signing is not the final step

Alberta land registration is based on the Torrens system under the Land Titles Act. Registering documents at Land Titles is what creates and ends legal rights in the land.

Once an instrument is registered, it becomes operative according to its tenor and intent. Registration, not signing alone, is what transfers or charges the interest.

A purchase is completed by registering an Application for Transfer of Land (form LTS14766). A mortgage is registered on the mortgage form. Each document must be witnessed under the Land Titles Act rules, which differ depending on whether it is signed in Alberta or outside Alberta.

Witnessing when you sign in Alberta

An instrument signed in Alberta must be witnessed by a person who signs as witness and makes an affidavit in the prescribed form. The witness therefore has a formal role to play, and a casual signature in front of a friend may not be enough.

A lawyer's office usually arranges this witnessing when you sign. That is common practice. Alberta's Land Titles page says documents can be registered at a Land Titles office and only suggests getting legal advice and help when dealing with property.

Signing outside Alberta, and who cannot witness

If an instrument is signed outside Alberta, one witness must appear before a listed official, such as a judge, commissioner or notary, and make an affidavit in the prescribed form. If you are out of province when closing happens, plan for this early.

Some people cannot act, and the rules differ slightly depending on the role:

• A person cannot witness an instrument if they are a party to it.
• A spouse who is consenting to the instrument under the Dower Act cannot witness it.
• The Registrar need not register an instrument if the commissioner or notary who acted on it is a party to it or a consenting spouse under the Dower Act.

In practice this means a co-owner or your spouse should not be the person who witnesses your signature on a document they are also part of.

Why errors in the documents matter

A mortgagor must execute a mortgage in the prescribed form or to the like effect. The mortgage must accurately state the interest mortgaged and describe the land sufficiently to identify it. Errors can leave the lender's security defective.

Fees and the registration levy must be paid when documents are submitted. The Registrar will not perform a duty until the prescribed fees are received.

Government compensation is also limited. The General Revenue Fund is not liable for loss caused by improper execution of an instrument on behalf of a corporation, or by registration of an instrument signed by a person under legal disability. Some bad-signing losses therefore have no government compensation.

Who can advise you, and what to do next

With certain exceptions, only an active member of the Law Society of Alberta can practise as a barrister or solicitor, and only lawyers can give legal advice. Title review, drafting and legal advice on a purchase are therefore reserved to Alberta lawyers, not to realtors or notaries.

Lenders may have their own requirements about who handles the closing, and title insurance may be involved. Those are practical rules rather than statutory ones, so check them with your lender. Before signing, work through this list:

• Ask where and when you will sign, and whether anyone signing will be outside Alberta.
• Confirm that no witness is a party to the document or a consenting spouse.
• Check that names, the land description and the interest on the mortgage are accurate.
• Have funds ready for fees and the levy, which are due at submission.
• Ask a lawyer about any signing by a corporation or by someone who may be under a legal disability.

Frequently asked questions