Real Estate
A lawyer for selling a house in Surrey first checks who can sign and who lives there
A death, a power of attorney, a separation, a tenant or a move abroad each add a step before completion. That step is easier to plan when the home is listed than after an offer comes in.
The short answer
On a sale, the seller's lawyer has the title ready to pass: the seller signs the transfer, any mortgage is paid out from the proceeds and its discharge registered, and the balance goes to the people entitled to it.
The transfer has to be signed by the registered owners, or by someone whose authority to sign for them the Land Title and Survey Authority will accept. That means an executor or administrator holding a court grant, or an attorney acting under a power of attorney that meets LTSA's requirements for land.
Several common situations add a step that has to be finished before completion: registering a surviving joint owner's title, obtaining a grant of probate, giving a tenant proper notice, or applying to the Canada Revenue Agency for a certificate when the seller lives outside Canada. Some of those steps run on someone else's timetable, such as the probate registry's or CRA's.
That is why the lawyer should hear about it when the home is listed, not after an offer has been accepted with a completion date nobody can meet.
updated October 19, 2026
What does a lawyer do when you sell a house in BC?
The seller's lawyer checks who is on title and what is charged against it, has the seller sign the transfer and the statement of adjustments, pays out any mortgage from the sale proceeds, and makes sure the lender's discharge is registered afterward. The balance then goes to the seller, or to whoever is entitled to it.
For most sellers that is the whole file, and this page is about the sales where it is not. A mortgage repaid years ago that still shows on title is covered on the refinancing page. A strata seller also needs a Form F certificate of payment from the strata corporation under the Strata Property Act.
Can I sell the house if my co-owner has died?
Yes, but what comes first depends on how you held title. If you were joint tenants, you register your survivorship with a death certificate, become sole owner, and sell. If you were tenants in common, the deceased's share is sold by their executor or administrator, who usually needs a court grant before the transfer registers.
A survivorship application is a short LTSA filing supported by a death certificate from the BC Vital Statistics Agency, and it can usually be registered together with the transfer to the buyer, so with the certificate in hand the effect on completion is small.
A tenancy in common takes longer. The share is part of the estate, the personal representative needs a grant before LTSA will register a transmission, and the survivor and the estate then sign the sale together. The title transfers page has the steps for each application.
How does an executor sell a house in BC?
The executor obtains a grant of probate, or an administrator a grant of administration, from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, then registers a transmission of the house into their name as personal representative. Only then can a transfer to a buyer register. The executor can list and sign a contract earlier, but completion waits for the grant.
Listing before the grant is common, but the contract should make completion depend on the grant or allow enough time for it, since nobody can promise when the probate registry will issue one. Probate fees under the Probate Fee Act are paid before the grant issues, so they often come from other estate money or an advance.
The proceeds are estate money. They pay debts, taxes and administration costs, and reach beneficiaries only after the waiting periods in the Wills, Estates and Succession Act and any claims. An executor with power to sell does not usually need the beneficiaries' approval, but selling below value, or without telling them, invites a court application.
Can I sell my parent's house using a power of attorney?
Usually, if your parent signed an enduring power of attorney under the Power of Attorney Act that authorizes dealings with land and meets LTSA's filing requirements. The attorney signs the transfer for the parent and must act in the parent's interest, not the family's. Without a usable power of attorney, a court-appointed committee may be needed.
LTSA has to be able to rely on the document itself, so it is filed or deposited for the transfer to refer to, and the attorney may have to declare that it has not been revoked and the parent is alive. An older document, one made outside BC, or one limited to banking may not work for land.
The attorney must act honestly, in good faith and in the adult's best interests, and keep the adult's property separate. A sale that moves the proceeds to the children, or sells to one of them below market value, invites a challenge.
Without a usable power of attorney, the family applies to the Supreme Court under the Patients Property Act for a committee, which sells within the authority the court's order gives it. Making a power of attorney is covered on the wills pages.
Can we sell our house before our separation is final?
Yes, if both registered owners sign. Separated spouses often sell before they have a final agreement and have the net proceeds held in a lawyer's trust account until they agree or a court orders how to divide them. If only one spouse is on title, the other may still have registered something that stops a sale.
Holding the proceeds in trust needs a direction signed by both spouses, naming who holds the money and what releases it.
A spouse who is not on title still has a claim to family property under the Family Law Act, and can protect it with a certificate of pending litigation once a claim is filed, or an entry under the Land (Spouse Protection) Act. Either can stop a sale until it is removed by agreement or court order.
If an owner will not sign, the sale needs a court order. Sidhu Legal's family work is limited to agreements, so a contested application for an order of sale is outside it. Our guide to separating when you own a home explains the agreement route.
How do you sell a house with tenants in BC?
First decide whether the buyer is taking the tenancy over or wants the home empty, and write that into the contract. If the buyer wants vacant possession to live in, the buyer must ask in writing and the seller, as landlord, gives the tenant notice under the Residential Tenancy Act, using the Residential Tenancy Branch's online tool.
The notice for the purchaser's use under section 49 of the Act is available only when the buyer or a close family member intends in good faith to live in the unit, and only once all the conditions of the sale are met. The tenant can dispute it, and the completion and possession dates must leave room for the full notice period, or the seller may be unable to give vacant possession.
The tenant is entitled to compensation for this kind of notice, and to a larger amount if the home is not then used as stated, which can fall on the buyer who asked for it.
If the tenancy continues, the buyer becomes the landlord at completion, and the tenant's deposits, with any interest owed, are credited to the buyer on the statement of adjustments. Tell the lawyer about everyone who pays rent, including a suite tenant.
What changes if I sell while living outside Canada?
A seller who is not a resident of Canada for tax purposes must deal with section 116 of the Income Tax Act: the buyer's lawyer will hold back part of the price until the Canada Revenue Agency issues a certificate of compliance. The seller applies for it, usually on form T2062, and CRA sets its own pace.
The holdback exists because a buyer can be liable for a non-resident seller's tax if no certificate is obtained. The amount is set by the Act and the contract, not by the tax finally owed, so it is often more than that tax. The application can be made for a proposed sale, before completion, and should be.
Documents signed outside BC generally have to be witnessed in a form LTSA accepts, often before a notary public or a Canadian consular officer. Whether the gain is taxable in Canada is a question for an accountant.
What to tell your lawyer when you list
- 1
Who is on title
Every registered owner, how they hold, and whether any of them has died, lost capacity or separated.
- 2
Who will sign
The owners themselves, an executor with a grant, or an attorney or committee, and the document that gives them authority.
- 3
Who lives there
Tenants, suite renters or relatives paying rent, and whether the buyer will want the home empty.
- 4
Where you live
Whether any seller is a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes, so the CRA application can start early.
Common questions
Do all the beneficiaries have to agree before the executor sells the house?
Generally, no. When the will or the Wills, Estates and Succession Act gives the executor power to sell, the beneficiaries' consent is not required, though some wills add conditions. Executors usually keep beneficiaries informed anyway, because a beneficiary who thinks a sale is improper or underpriced can apply to the court. A beneficiary who wants the house can ask to buy it or take it as part of their share.
Can the executor buy the house from the estate?
Only with care. An executor buying estate property is on both sides of the deal, so the purchase is open to challenge unless every beneficiary, adult and capable, consents in writing or the court approves it. Even then, the price should rest on an independent appraisal, and each beneficiary should consider getting their own advice before consenting.
Can I accept an offer before probate is granted?
Yes, if the contract is written for it: a condition that the grant issue by a set date, or a completion date far enough away to allow for it, with the buyer told the seller is an estate. Some buyers will not wait and some lenders' approvals expire, so a firm completion date before the grant is in hand is a risk for the estate.
My ex won't sign the listing or the transfer. Can I sell anyway?
Not if your ex is a registered owner. Without their signature, the sale needs a court order, under the Family Law Act between spouses, or on a court application between co-owners who were never spouses. If only you are on title, check whether your ex has registered a certificate of pending litigation or a spousal entry, because either has to be removed before a buyer will complete.
My parent has dementia and never signed a power of attorney. Can the house be sold?
Usually only through a committee appointed by the Supreme Court under the Patients Property Act, which needs medical evidence and a court application. If your parent still has enough capacity, a lawyer may be able to take instructions for a power of attorney now, but that turns on an honest assessment of capacity at the time, not on the family's wishes.
Will the buyer hold back part of my proceeds because I live abroad?
Yes, if you are a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes. The buyer's lawyer keeps the holdback in trust and releases it when CRA's certificate of compliance is delivered. If no certificate arrives in time, the buyer's lawyer may have to send the money to CRA instead, and you then recover any excess through your Canadian tax filing.
Do I have to report the sale of my home on my tax return?
Canadian residents generally have to report the sale of a principal residence and designate it on their return, even when no tax is owed. A short period of ownership can bring the federal residential property flipping rule or the BC Home Flipping Tax Act into play, and a rental or home office can change the picture. An accountant should confirm your position.
Selling a home that an estate, an attorney, a tenant or an ex has a stake in?
A short call is usually enough to tell you what's involved, what it will take, and whether you need us at all.