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In This Volume

79 (1) At any time after the death of the owner of real estate, the person’s personal representatives may

  • (a) by instrument attested and proved as provided in the Land Title Act, assent to a devise contained in the person’s will, or
  • (b) convey the real estate to any person entitled to it as heir, devisee or otherwise.
  • (2) The personal representative may make the assent or conveyance under subsection (1), either subject to a charge for the payment of any money which the personal representatives are liable to pay, or without the charge.
  • (3) On the assent or conveyance under subsection (1), subject to a charge for all the money, if any, which the personal representatives are liable to pay, all liabilities of the personal representatives in respect of the land cease, except as to acts done or contracts entered into by them before the assent or conveyance.
  • (4) At any time after the end of one year from the death of the owner of any real estate, if the person’s personal representatives have failed on the request of the person entitled to the real estate to convey the real estate to that person, on the application of that person and after notice to the personal representatives, the court may order that the conveyance be made.
  • (5) The production of an attested and proved assent by the personal representatives of a deceased owner of registered real estate authorizes the registrar of land titles to register the person named in the assent as owner of the real estate.

1979-114-92. [Repealed 2009-13-191(1), effective March 31, 2014 (B.C. Reg. 148/2013)].

PRACTICE

Acceptance of “Assent to Devise”

The registrar requires, under s. 185(1) of the Land Title Act, that “a transfer of freehold estate must be in the form approved by the director and on a single page”. However, in some circumstances the registrar may accept an “assent to devise”, given s. 185(2) of the Land Title Act which provides that:

  • (2) This section does not apply
  • (a) if a form of transfer is prescribed by another enactment, or
  • (b) if, in the opinion of the registrar, it would be proper to accept another form of transfer.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Restriction on Dealings under Wills Variation Act

Under s. 12 of the repealed Wills Variation Act, an executor or trustee must not distribute any part of an estate to beneficiaries until six months after probate of the will unless the executor has either:

  1. the consents of those entitled to apply for a variation under that Act; or
  2. a court order authorizing the distribution.

If the executor or trustee effects any of the following dealings within the six-month period under s. 12 plus the 10-day period for filing a certificate of pending litigation under s. 4:

  1. a transfer to a beneficiary under the will;
  2. a transfer to another person, with the beneficiary consenting to the transfer; or
  3. a transfer by way of sale to a beneficiary,

on application to register the dealing the registrar makes a notation that the transfer is subject to the Act in accordance with s. 12, unless the executor provides the required consents or court order.

A transfer may be registered free of the Wills Variation Act notation if the following information is provided:

  1. Evidence satisfactory to the registrar as to the beneficiaries in the form of:
    1. a court certified copy of the disclosure statement that lists the beneficiaries;
    2. a court certified copy of the affidavit of executor provided to the probate court by the executor;
    3. a court certified copy of the statutory declaration provided to the court by the executor as proof for this purpose; and
  2. Consents from all of the beneficiaries listed.

Section 11 of the repealed Wills Variation Act provides that on an order for variation being made under the Act, the portion of the estate affected by it must be held subject to the provisions of the order, but the order does not bind land unless it is registered as a charge against the land.

Secondary Sources

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 2, paras. 677 and 678.