How does buying a house from an estate work in BC?

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The executor or administrator sells, but title can pass to you only once they're registered on it, which takes the court's grant of probate or administration, so an estate sale often waits on the grant. When an owner dies, their land goes to the personal representative named in the will (the executor) or appointed by the court (the administrator), who sells it for the estate. Land held in joint tenancy goes instead to the surviving owner, outside the estate. Either way the land title office registers the change before anyone can transfer the land to a buyer. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Who sells: Unless a co-owner takes it by survivorship, a deceased owner's land passes to their personal representative, who holds it in trust for the people entitled to it and has the same authority over it the owner had, subject to the will (Wills, Estates and Succession Act ss. 142 (1), 162 (1), (2)). Where several are appointed together, one or some of them can't sell the land without the court's approval, unless the Act's exceptions apply (s. 162 (4)). When title can pass: Before anything dealing with the land is registered, the person entitled must first be registered as its owner, and for a death the land title office needs a certified copy of the grant of probate or administration, or a court order vesting the land in an administrator (Land Title Act ss. 260 (2), 266, 266.1). Once registered, the personal representative holds all the deceased owner's title (s. 264). So a sale can be agreed before the grant, but it can't complete until the grant has issued and been registered (our reading). A joint tenancy: Where the deceased held the land as a joint tenant, the survivor applies to be registered with a death certificate or a copy of the grant (Land Title Act s. 269), and then sells as any owner does (see joint tenancy or tenants in common). The offer: Expect the seller's lawyer to add terms: often a subject that the grant issues, or a completion date set some time after it, and a seller who signs as executor or administrator. A personal representative who never lived in the house may know little of its condition and may decline to fill in a disclosure statement; a real estate licensee acting for the seller still has to disclose a material latent defect they know of, in writing, before the contract (Real Estate Services Rules s. 59; our reading of BCFSA's guidance; see what a seller must disclose). The rescission period: Unlike a court-ordered sale, an estate sale isn't on the regulation's list of exemptions, so the 3-business-day right to rescind an accepted offer on a home applies, unless the sale is made under a court order or the court's supervision (Home Buyer Rescission Period Regulation s. 3; Property Law Act s. 42; see a court-ordered sale). What it means for a buyer: A house that stood empty after a death can hide what a lived-in one shows: check the heat, water, roof and any insurance gap with your inspector, ask whether anyone rents it, and search the title for charges before subjects come off. A report on the lot reads it as it would any other (our reading).

How does buying a house from an estate work in BC?

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Before you buy: who to ask