Real estate in Alberta
Buying, selling, refinancing or renewing a mortgage? I handle the legal side: the documents, the money held in trust, and registering the change at the land titles office.
Phone 780-424-3558 · Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm
Selling a house from an estate?
I can handle the estate and the sale together, so the executor deals with one office. Probate and estates
What I help with
Buying a home
- Review the purchase contract and the title
- Work with your lender on the mortgage documents
- Receive the money in trust, pay the seller, and register the transfer and mortgage
- First-time buyers: I explain each document before you sign
Selling a home
- Prepare the transfer and the documents the buyer’s lawyer needs
- Pay out your mortgage and send you what is left
Refinancing and mortgage renewals
- Register a new mortgage or a change of lender
- Add or remove someone from the title
Common questions
Can an executor sell the house before probate is granted?
Usually not. The land titles office needs the grant of probate (or Administration) before it will register a sale of a house that was in the person’s name alone. An executor can often list the house and sign a contract that closes after the grant arrives. If it was the family home, a surviving spouse or adult interdependent partner (common-law partner) living there may have the right to stay for a time, and a spouse may have a life interest. Send me an email asking any questions you may have before you sign anything.
The house was owned jointly. Do we need probate to sell it?
If it was owned as joint tenants, it passes to the surviving owner without probate. The survivor signs a sworn statement in front of a commissioner and files it, with a death certificate, at the land titles office to have the title changed, and can then sell it. If it was owned as tenants in common, the person’s share goes through their estate.