Apostille This month marks the one-year anniversary of Canada joining 126 other countries to become a member of the Hague Convention, officially dispending of our former authentication process and, instead, adopting the Apostille process for the purpose of guaranteeing the authenticity of documents destined for use abroad. All of Canada now uses the Apostille process, […]
Charitable Giving through your Will & Estate Most people believe in the importance of giving: giving to those in need; giving back to their community; giving to a cause they value or to a group that conducts important work. That said, only 17.4% of British Columbians made a charitable donation (of any kind) in 2021.[i]
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Power of Attorney, BC: What You Should Know 1. What is ‘Power of Attorney’ in BC? In British Columbia, a Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that appoints person(s) to handle financial and legal matters on your behalf, while you are alive. The person making the Power of Attorney is called the
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Executor of Wills in Canada (BC): What does an executor do? I am a BC Notary, which means that a large part of my job involves helping clients with their estate planning. In my experience, many clients have a clear idea of who their primary beneficiaries will be but have a lot of questions surrounding
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Overview for Co-Ownership Agreements A co-ownership agreement for real estate is a legally binding document that governs owners of a property. An Ownership Agreement for property is strongly recommended when multiple people or entities share in real estate ownership together. The purpose of a co-ownership agreement is to aim to reduce potential for costly litigation
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Introduction Recall from Part 1 that servitudes are non-financial charges that create and bestow rights and interests over a property to someone other than the property owner. These interests may affect a property owner’s ability to deal with the property in a manner of his choosing and, consequently, may be important when determining fair market
Servitudes When purchasing property, the Seller’s and Buyer’s Notary or lawyer will make appropriate arrangements to remove all financial charges (mortgages, liens, CPLs, judgments, etc.) from the property title in accordance with the standard contract of purchase and sale. However, non-financial charges registered against a title “run with the land” and remain on title even
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Common Real Estate Adjustments and Closing Costs Buying, selling or refinancing? Costs can add up. Don’t let your finances be a surprise – make sure to factor in these common adjustments and closing costs. (Note: this list does not cover moving costs like hiring moving companies and packers; instead this article is focused on closing
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BC Real Estate Moves When it comes to real estate, there are no small moves. Whether you’re downsizing, upsizing, moving across the province or to the house down the street, moving is a lot of work! Moving often involves a handful of third parties (Notary, Realtor, bank, cleaners, movers), a full schedule of appointments, dozens
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General Application of Property Transfer Tax (PTT) Property transfer tax (PTT) is a provincial tax payable by all persons acquiring interest(s) in property in British Columbia. Most commonly, an acquirer of an interest in property is a buyer who purchases a property from an arms-length seller, but an acquirer can also include persons receiving property
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