Your legal bill will include fees (the amount the lawyer is getting paid) and disbursements (the amount the lawyer has to pay on your behalf).

For example, as of 2024, Erin charges a fee of $1250 + HST + disbursements for a standard residential purchase or sale. This includes a first mortgage on purchases.

Disbursements are costs your lawyer pays upfront for, such as title searching, registration, title insurance and mortgage discharge fees. You then pay your lawyer back on closing. Disbursements vary between transactions and most lawyers do not quote them, and instead quote their fee “plus disbursements”.

You should know that disbursements are going to significantly increase your legal bill for real estate transactions - often by 40% or more, depending on what’s required.

We suggest our clients be prepared for $500-$1000 for disbursements for a real estate transaction.

And example of what your legal bill may look like is:

Legal Fees

for Purchase and First Mortgage $1250

HST on Legal Fee $162.50

Total Fee $1412.50

Disbursements

Title Insurance $350.00*

Software Transaction Fee $285.00

Title Search Fee $70.00

Wire Transfer Fee $17.50

Registration of Deed $83.11

Total Disbursements $805.61

Total Legal Bill:` $2,200.61

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of disbursements you may incur, but an example. Again, disbursements vary depending on the property and the deal, which is why they are so difficult to estimate.

Clients often call real estate lawyers wanting to add their adult children to title as a “estate planning” method. However, adding your children to title could derail your estate plan or cost your children hundreds of thousands in capital gains.

Here are a few examples to illustrate:

The Accidental Disinheritance

In this example, a couple accidentally disinherit their daughter by adding their son to the title of their house.

Donna and Peter heard at the coffee shop that they should add their son to title of their house as a joint tenant save on probate taxes. They instruct their real estate lawyer to do so. They don’t update their wills, which divide everything equally between their son and daughter. Donna and Peter’s Estate includes their house and 1 million dollars.

Donna and Peter die. Because their son is a joint tenant on their house, their house transfers directly to him. It doesn’t matter that their will divides everything equally, because the right of survivorship from a joint tenancy overrides it. As a result, their son inherits their house and $500,000, and their daughter only inherits $500,000. While no probate tax is payable on the house, Donna and Peter have disrupted the equal distribution under their will by adding their son as a joint tenant on their property.

The Accidental Capital Gain

In this example, a couple adds their son to the title of their house so he doesn’t have to pay probate tax, but he ends up paying even more in capital gains.

Judy and Stanley have one son. When they are 60 years old, they go to their real estate lawyer and add their son to the title of their house as a joint tenant. At that time, their house is worth $500,000. Their son has his own house where he lives with his family.

Judy and Stanley die 20 years later. Their house appreciates by $400,000 over those 20 years. Their house passes directly to son because he is a joint tenant, and he avoids probate tax of 1.5% ($13,500) on the $900,000 asset.

However, when their son sells the house for $900,000, he now has to pay capital gains tax. Capital gains tax is payable on any property that is not your primary residence. The amount of tax payable on a capital gains depends on your tax bracket. For instance, if the son’s annual gross income is $100,000, he will end up paying a capital gains tax of $21,999.

In addition to the above, there are some other concerns arising from adding children to your title, including land transfer tax, impacting your ability to sell or refinance, exposing your asset to your child’s creditors, or getting caught up in your child’s matrimonial dispute. Always get legal advice and accounting on your specific situation before instructing your real estate lawyer to make changes to your title.

Get in touch with Erin Murray at erin@whiteoaklaw.ca to discuss whether it makes sense to add your children to the title of your home.

You don't, and it might be better if you didn't!

Many home buyers choose to buy and sell on the same day., and plan to do both moves in a single day.

While this might be ideal if you owned your new home as of 9am on the day of closing and could move right in, but this isn’t true.

Most deals don't close until after 3pm, and some don't close until 5pm, especially if you choose the most popular day to close: the last Friday of the month. This means you won't be able to start moving into your new house until quite late in the day.

If you don’t fancy an evening move, you can likely purchase your house a few days before your sale for a less stressful experience. You'll just need bridge financing from your bank - they will loan you the money you need to buy your new home for a few days, and then you pay them back the day you sell. There is interest on these loans but many clients consider it money well spent to be able to move on their own schedule.

Contact us to talk about your transaction: erin@whiteoaklaw.ca

Fridays, and especially, the last Friday of the month. In my experience, at least half of the transactions for a month are scheduled to close on Fridays. The result is the banks and real estate lawyers are extremely busy on these days, so transactions are more likely to close very late, right up to 5pm.

Your real estate lawyer will start their day with a cup of coffee and a prayer that your transaction goes smoothly.

Hopefully, you have already dropped off your closing funds in the form of a bank draft or certified check. Now your real estate lawyer will be waiting for your lender to send your mortgage funds and for the seller’s real estate lawyer to send the closing documents.

Once the closing documents arrive, your real estate lawyer will be checking to ensure they are complete and executed.

If all of the documents are in order, your real estate lawyer will then forward the funds to the seller’s real estate lawyer in escrow (not to be released to the client until the deal is complete). The seller’s real estate lawyer will then release the deed to be registered. Once the deed is released, your real estate lawyer will perform a final execution search and register your deed and mortgage.

It is only once your deed has been registered that you officially own the property and can “take possession” (aka, move in).

Many lawyers used skilled law clerks to complete some of these tasks.

Buying property with friends can quickly derail into litigation without careful preparation and advice before the purchase. There should be a written co-ownership agreement covering the contingencies of property ownership. Preferably, Erin or another qualified real estate lawyer is drafting this agreement. Otherwise, what happens if one friend wants to sell at a loss?

Any owner who wants to sell but can’t get their co-owners to agree can apply under the Partition Act to force a sale of a property they own a partial interest in. This is the case even if doing so will cause a significant economic loss. The Courts will allow the sale unless there’s a private contract or agreement to the contrary, or evidence of malicious intent.

This recently happened to friends in Green et al. v Gardeazabal, 2023 ONSC 2683. Three friends bought an investment property in April 2022. They did not enter into a co-ownership agreement. One year later, two of the friends wanted to sell despite the $150,000 loss that would result. The third friend opposed the sale, arguing she had a reasonable expectation the parties would hold on to the property for 2 years. The Court allowed the sale, largely because there was nothing in writing documenting an agreement to hold the property for a specific amount of time.

This loss could have been avoided if the parties had gotten a co-ownership agreement which set out their intentions and obligations to each other explicitly before buying property together. It would have been a lot less expensive than the partition application litigation that resulted in this decision.

Thinking of buying a property with your friends? Get some advice from erin@whiteoaklaw.ca.

Yes. In Ontario, only lawyers can access the Land Registry System to transfer legal title of real property. You cannot get on the deed of real property without a lawyer. If anyone tells you that you do not need a lawyer to buy or sell land in Ontario, they are either are uninformed or are trying to take advantage of you.

When you purchase a home or land in Ontario, you must pay land transfer tax. If you are in Toronto, you also have to pay “muncipal land transfer tax”. You can calculate your own land transfer tax here: https://trreb.ca/buying-selling-intelligence/ltt-calculator-residential/.

The tax is payable at closing. Your lawyer takes the tax from you and pays it to the Ministry of Finance. It is part of your “closing funds” (downpayment, land transfer tax and legal fees).

If it’s your first time buying a home, you’ll qualify for a new home buyer’s tax rebate of up to $4000.

There are limited exemptions to land transfer tax, for instance, when transferring title between spouses.

You’ll also pay tax (HST) on your legal fees and disbursements.

No, you do not pay tax directly on the sale of your primary residence in Ontario. However, if you are purchasing a new primary residence, you will pay Land Transfer Tax on the purchase (see above).

You do pay HST on your realtor’s commission, legal fees and disbursements.

The process is different depending on your lawyer. If your lawyer is Erin at White Oak Law, this is what will happen:

-You’ll meet Erin at her office. She works out of her home and there is plenty of street parking available.

-Erin will take a copy of your ID and ask you what your job is and what the source of your downpayment is. Erin isn’t being nosey, she’s required by law to ask these questions.

-Erin will then show you the “Statement of Adjustments”, which shows the amount you are paying the seller for the house once the deposit, property taxes, fuel oil and propane are adjusted for (if applicable).

-Next, Erin will show you a “Funds Summary”. This will show how you much you are paying for the house, the land transfer taxes, and your legal fees and disbursements, and how much your mortgage advance and downpayment are (if any).

-Erin will then take you through the legal documents you need to sign in order to purchase your house. Erin will point out anything that needs your clarification or confirmation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions - Erin doesn’t want to force you to endure a property law class at your signing appointment, but if you want to learn more and have the time, she’s happy to get into the finer points.

-Erin will also be taking you through the documents your lender sent her to have you sign (if you have a mortgage). Erin did not draft these documents, and may roll her eyes if your lender sends her documents to “open a chequing account” at their institution, or sends three seperate documents that all say the same thing. Regardless, Erin will happily advise you on the legal effect of any and all documents your lender sends, and will ensure they are all signed so your lender funds your mortgage.

-Erin will confirm your phone number for closing day, and ask that you be available by phone all day that day, in case she needs instructions. 99% of the time, you will only hear from Erin on closing day when she has completed your purchase - she’ll give you the key code by email once you are on title, and you’ll be good to move into your new home. 1% of the time, something goes amiss - most often, the parties run out of time to register the deed (which must be registered by 5pm). If this happens, Erin will need to speak to you about what has happened, and confirm whether you want to extend the deal. If everyone wants to extend (and usually they do), the deal will close the next morning (unless it’s a Friday….see “what’s the worst day to close” above).

-The appointment will not take longer than an hour. You will not have to go back to see Erin again, she will mail (or email) you all the documents you need for your records.