In law, an estate can be defined as the personal, real, tangible and intangible property of an individual along with things of value to which the person (now dead) could lay a claim while s/he was alive. All such property can be given to others by a will through the process of probate, which could be a somewhat lengthy and costly affair. In order to avoid the probate process, people arrange to place their properties under

Why plan who will take over your business now? What’s the need? It is estimated that in the next ten years just about half the number of people now running small businesses in Canada would reach the retirement age varying from 55 to 64. It is also observed that compared to the nineties of the last century, more such people seem to be getting old. Actually, their numbers now is nearly double of what it was ten

The difference faced by a person selling life insurance and someone intending to make a will is similar to a great extent. The former has to tell the client to visualize a situation when he/she is not alive, not quite a great opening line. The latter similarly is not expected to think of impending death, at least not in the immediate future. However, the probability of death is always there; quite a number of people die at a

Ever wonder why your mortgage has so many restrictions and requirements/conditions? Why are there so many different types of mortgages in the UK? Why does your lender require provisions for prepayment penalties, restrictions on subsequent encumbrances (such as no second mortgages), title insurance and opinions, the mortgage becomes due on sale or due on encumbrance, the lender can assign the mortgage

In the residential market, construction financing is available for customers who are planning to build a new home or who want to reconstruct an existing property to become like a new one. Construction financing, in theory, is a permanent conversion of financing dollars in to the construction of new amenities or developing an existing asset. There are several types of construction financing. However, there are

Real properties (real estate) like buildings, lands, residences are generally acquired by a purchaser through taking a loan. The promise to repay this loan is backed by a security, where the borrower/chargor grants a mortgage or charge against its real property in favour of the lender/chargee.  Incidentally, such a loan is  called a mortgage loan secured by real property and stated thus in a document. In common

Latent defects in the eyes of the law applicable at the time when administering the sale of a real estate property (land, buildings and fixtures or chattels), are faults or shortcomings in the property not ordinarily found even though the inspection was reasonably thorough. For instance, there could be a disused underground fuel tank in the property, its filling line, vent, etc. removed or gone. It would be very difficult

A title search is conducted during the process of selling or purchasing or acquiring an interest in a property. Its purpose is to find out:If the seller’s interest in the property is saleable;If there is any right of way or things like that (known as easements) in the property; andIf the property is mortgaged, encumbered, or there are back taxes to be paid, called liens thereon.

In Ontario, the land transfer tax has to be paid if land is purchased in the province or an interest in land is acquired therein. This measure holds good even if the transfer is not registered at one of the land registry offices in the province of Ontario. In this context, it would be wise to understand what exactly constitutes land for the purposes of purchasing or acquiring an interest under the land transfer tax regime in

The lease enforcement or implementation of the agreement between the landlord and the tenant should be deliberately followed to avoid any conflict and discussion. However, there are instances when the agreement will be defaulted and the remedies or solutions will be taken into consideration. Basically, the purpose of every lease agreement is to ensure a joint benefit for both landlord and tenant.