Land Title Practice Manual

21 New Certificates Of Title In Names Of Trustees

In This Volume

  • 21 (a) When any Registrar of any land registration district in this Province is satisfied by any evidence he may require that any real property standing in the name of any individual or individuals, whether such persons, or any of them, be deceased or not, actually belongs to or is held in trust for or to the use of any congregation upon the trusts mentioned in section 4 of this Act, he may cancel the certificate of title standing in the name or names of such individual or individuals, and may issue a new certificate of title for said real property in the names of the then trustees of such congregation, to be held in accordance with the provisions of the said section. A certificate of the secretary or clerk of the Presbytery within the bounds of which such property is situate, together with a certificate of the minister in charge of such congregation, to the effect that such property belongs to or is held in trust for or to the use of such congregation, shall be accepted by such Registrar of any land registration district as conclusive evidence. No proof shall be required of the handwriting or official position of any person certifying pursuant to the provisions of this section.

Deeds and other assurances validated

  • (b) All deeds, transfers, mortgages, leases, or other assurances of any lands in the Province of British Columbia heretofore or hereafter executed and purporting to be signed by the trustees of any congregation in section 4 mentioned, or a majority of them, shall be, in all Courts in this Province and in all Land Registry Offices in this Province, deemed sufficiently executed to pass or grant or mortgage or lease (as the case may be) the estate or interest thereby purported to be passed, granted, mortgaged, or leased: Provided that the minister in charge of such congregation shall certify that the persons executing such instruments were at the date thereof trustees for said congregation, and in the absence or want of appointment or inability to act of any minister, such certificate may with like effect be granted by the presiding officer, secretary, or clerk of the Presbytery within the bounds of which the said lands are situate. The signature of the said minister or presiding officer or secretary or clerk shall be duly witnessed and verified by affidavit in the same manner as required by the “Land Registry Act”: Provided further that nothing in this section contained shall be construed to dispense with the consent of the Presbytery or Conference, as the case may be, required by any term or provision set forth in Schedule A to this Act with respect to any sale, mortgage, lease, or exchange of lands by such trustees.

Trusts not to be entered in full nor set out in documents

  • (c) It shall not be necessary to set out the said trusts in any transfer or in any certificate of title in respect of said lands: Provided, however, that the Registrar shall, upon receiving notice from the presiding officer, secretary, or clerk of the Presbytery within the bounds of which the said lands may be situate that such lands are affected by this Act, enter a note or memorandum giving the title and chapter of the Act of incorporation and of this Act and the respective dates of the passing thereof upon the record of title of each lot and parcel of land affected thereby, and stating that such lands are subject to the said trusts, and shall, on each certificate of title thereafter issued by him with respect to the said lands, enter a note or memorandum to the effect that the property therein described is subject to the trusts created by the said Act.

1924-50-21.

PRACTICE

Registration of Indefeasible Title

The registrar names the owner on an indefeasible title as follows:

A.B., C.D. AND E.F., TRUSTEES OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE X.Y. UNITED CHURCH, IN TRUST, UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA ACTS, STATUTES OF CANADA 1924, C. 100 AND STATUTES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, C. 50.

Instrument or Transfer Form May Show Names of Individual Trustees or May Omit Individual Names

If an instrument or transfer form shows the names of the trustees of the church individually, it must state clearly that they are the trustees of a correctly described congregation.

A. B., (occupation), (address), C.D., (occupation), (ADDRESS), AND E.F., (occupation), (ADDRESS), TRUSTEES OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE X.Y. UNITED CHURCH, Pursuant to the United Church of Canada Act.

Alternatively, the instrument of transfer may omit the names of the individual trustees. For examples, see the “Practice” discussion under s. 1 of the Trustee (Church Property) Act at “Trustee (Church Property) Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 465” in this chapter.

Execution of Instruments Described in Section 21(b)

A majority of the trustees must execute all instruments described in s. 21(b) of the Act. The minister in charge of the congregation must certify that the persons executing an instrument were trustees for the congregation at the date of executing the instrument. The certificate must be witnessed in accordance with Part 5 of the Land Title Act.

Consent of Regional Council Required

Section 21(b) requires that dispositions by the trustees must be consented to by the Presbytery or Conference. Section 2.1(a) states that, for the purposes of that Act, a reference to Presbytery or Conference is also a reference to “a Regional Council of the United Church” or “a successor of a Regional Council…”. Section 6 in Schedule A also references the requirement for “the consent in writing of the Regional Council” in the context of dispositions of trust property by the trustees.

Accordingly, the registrar accepts a certificate of the Regional Council that the necessary consent has been given.

Submissions

On the Declaration form, enter a description of the supporting documents and attach an image of the original certificate of the minister and the original certificate of consent from the Regional Council. The electronic Declaration is submitted in support of the instrument that creates the interest in land.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The Trustees Shall Have the Power to Sell, Mortgage, Exchange, or Lease the Trust Property with the Consent of the Regional Council

Section 6 of Schedule A of the provincial United Church of Canada Act provides that the Regional Council must consent to any sale, mortgage, exchange, or lease of the trust property:

The trustees or a majority of them may, but only with the consent in writing of the Regional Council within the bounds of which the lands are situate (such consent to be under the hand of the presiding officer or secretary or clerk thereof), sell the said lands or any part thereof either by public sale or private contract and either for cash or upon credit and upon such terms as to price and for such price and upon such terms as to payment or otherwise as they may deem expedient; mortgage, hypothecate, or exchange the said lands or any part thereof; let any church, chapel, or meeting-house upon the same for such rent and upon such terms as they may deem expedient; and make all such conveyances, mortgages, leases, and assurances as may be required to complete any such sale, mortgage, hypothecation, exchange, or lease. The said Trustees after first paying or otherwise providing for all indebtedness of the Trustees shall apply the moneys arising from such sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease, or exchange for the purposes of such congregation as the Official Board thereof shall direct, but should such congregation cease to exist as an organized body, such proceeds, less any expense incurred in the execution of these trusts, shall be paid to The United Church of Canada to be applied for such purposes for the benefit of The United Church of Canada as the Regional Council within the bounds of which the said lands are situate may determine under the by-laws, rules, and regulations of the Denominational Council of The United Church of Canada. Every application by Trustees for the consent of a Regional Council as aforesaid shall be in writing and shall state the purpose for which the moneys arising from such intended sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease, or exchange will be applied. Any decision of a Regional Council with regard to the sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease, or exchange of the said lands or any part thereof shall be subject to appeal to the Denominational Council, at the instance of not fewer than any five members of the congregation affected thereby. In every case where the consent of such Regional Council or the Denominational Council has been obtained as aforesaid it shall not be incumbent upon the purchaser, mortgagee, or lessee of the said lands or of any part thereof to inquire into the necessity, expediency, or propriety of any such sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease, or exchange, or to see to the application of the moneys paid to the Trustees. A certificate of the secretary or clerk of any Regional Council or the Denominational Council that any such consent has been given shall be sufficient and conclusive evidence of such consent.