Out-of-Province Property: Wills + Estate Planning
Will - Updating Will - Invalid or No Will - Power of Attorney - Personal Directive
To schedule an appointment, contact our law firm at 403-400-4092 or Chris@NeufeldLegal.com
When an Albertan owns property in another province, the legal landscape shifts from a single-jurisdiction estate plan to a complex conflict of laws scenario, which often entails more sophisticated estate planning. Under the Wills and Succession Act (Alberta), the distribution of an estate is split based on the nature of the assets: movable versus immovable. While your personal belongings and bank accounts (movable) are generally governed by the laws of your primary residence in Alberta, any land or buildings (immovable) are strictly subject to the lex situs, or the laws of the province where the land is physically located. This means that even if your Alberta will is perfectly valid at home, its specific provisions regarding a vacation home in British Columbia or farmland in Saskatchewan must comply with those specific provincial statutes to be enforceable.
One of the most significant complexities involves the variation of testamentary freedom across provincial borders, particularly regarding dependents. In Alberta, you generally have the right to disinherit adult, independent children, but other provinces have much more restrictive rules that can override your wishes. For example, British Columbia’s Wills, Estates and Succession Act allows independent adult children to challenge a will if they feel they haven't been adequately provided for. An Alberta resident might find that while their plan to leave everything to a spouse works for their Calgary home, the courts in British Columbia could potentially redistribute their condominium in Fernie to a child they intentionally omitted.
The administrative burden of probate also multiplies when crossing provincial lines, as a Grant of Probate issued by an Alberta court is only legally binding within Alberta. To deal with real estate in another province, your executor must typically apply for a Resealing of the Grant in that jurisdiction. This is a secondary court process where the out-of-province court recognizes the Alberta probate, giving the executor the authority to sell or transfer the foreign land. While resealing is generally faster than a fresh probate application, it still requires additional legal fees, court filings, and significant delays before the property can be managed.
Furthermore, the financial implications of probate vary wildly between provinces, often resulting in unexpected costs being incurred by unprepared multi-province estates. Alberta is known for having some of the lowest probate fees in Canada, currently capped at a maximum of $525 regardless of the estate's size. Conversely, provinces like Ontario or British Columbia charge probate court fees based on a percentage of the asset's value (often around 1.4% to 1.5%). An Albertan owning a $1,000,000 property in another province could see their estate pay upwards of $15,000 in probate fees to that province (with advance strategic legal planning often being possible in those provinces).
Achieving the appropriate legal strategy when you own out-of-province property comes from addressing the matter early on with knowledgeable legal counsel that can properly investigate and coordinate to produce a will and other estate planning documents that optimize your outcome. We welcome you to contact our law firm today at 403-400-4092 or via email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com to schedule a confidential initial consultation.
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