Should I Buy in the Name of a Trust
There are individuals who inquire about purchasing their Whistler property in the name of a family trust. The reason that this is done is to avoid probate or succession duties upon the death of the Owners of the property. There are probate fees that would apply in British Columbia and they are $10 for every thousand dollars in value of the British Columbia property. The simplest and easiest way to avoid probate duties on the death of one individual is to have the property held in joint names by a number of individuals and then the property will pass to the surviving joint tenant without the necessity of paying any probabte fees. This does not solve the problem if both of the registered owners of the title die.
Should a Purchaser wish to purchase in the name of their family trust, the Land Title Office will require that the entire original trust document be filed in the Land Title Office. The document is then a document of public record. Quite often, these documents list in detail the assets and beneficiaries of the trust.
If it is comtemplated that in conjunction with the purchase of the property a mortgage will be obtained, then there will also be an issue as to whether a mortgage company is prepared to lend to the trust. There will be additional legal costs in conjunction with both registering the trust document as well as providing any necessary legal opinions as to whether the trust has the legal capacity to enter into a binding mortgage.