Land Registry Power of Attorney New Brunswick

Why Registration Matters

An enduring power of attorney for property does not need to be registered with the Land Registry to be legally valid. It's valid the moment the lawyer certifies and signs it. But if the attorney ever needs to sell, mortgage, or otherwise deal with the grantor's real estate, the EPA must be registered as an instrument at the Land Registry before the transaction can proceed.

This catches many families off guard. An attorney who has been successfully managing bank accounts, paying bills, and handling investments for months may discover they cannot sell the parent's house to fund long-term care until the EPA is registered. The registration process itself is straightforward, but it adds time — and in a crisis, time is what families have the least of.

How Registration Works

Service New Brunswick administers the provincial Land Registry through the PLANET electronic system. Registration of a power of attorney is governed by Land Registry Directive 3900-013.

The process:

1. The attorney engages a lawyer. EPA registration must be submitted by an authorized legal practitioner through the PLANET system. The attorney cannot submit the registration themselves — a New Brunswick lawyer handles the filing.

2. Prepare the registration package. The submission includes the original or a certified copy of the EPA, along with a Schedule "A" that lists the Property Identification Number (PID) for each parcel the registration covers. Every property in New Brunswick has a unique PID assigned by Service New Brunswick.

3. Submit through PLANET. The lawyer files the registration electronically. If submitted on paper instead, a $100 administrative surcharge applies on top of the base fees.

4. Pay the registration fee. The fee is $85.00 per parcel — broken down as $84.00 for the registration fee and $1.00 for the Land Titles Assurance fee. This applies per parcel, so if the grantor owns a house and a separate vacant lot, that's $170 in registration fees.

The Registry System Conversion

New Brunswick has been converting properties from the older Registry Act system to the modern Land Titles Act system. When a real estate transaction occurs on a property still under the old system, the conversion happens as part of the transaction through an Application for First Registration (AFR).

This adds an extra step if the grantor's property has never changed hands under the new system. The lawyer handling the sale will manage the conversion, but families should be aware it exists — it can add processing time and the AFR has its own requirements for title verification.

Common Rejection Reasons

The Land Registry has specific standards for documents filed through PLANET. Registrations are rejected for:

Missing notarization. The EPA must be properly notarized for land registry purposes. An EPA that was validly executed with a lawyer's capacity certificate may still need separate notarization for the registration filing, depending on how the original was prepared.

Missing Schedule A. Every registration must include a Schedule A listing the PIDs of the properties covered. A registration that says "all properties owned by the grantor" without specifying PIDs will be rejected.

Illegible documents. Paper submissions must be clearly legible. If the original EPA has a crimped notary seal, the scan must darken the seal so it's visible on the electronic copy. Faded seals and unclear signatures are common rejection triggers.

Incomplete legal description. The property description must match the records in the Land Registry system exactly. Discrepancies between the EPA's property description and the registry records cause delays.

When to Register

There are two schools of thought:

Register immediately after execution. If the grantor owns real estate and there is any possibility of a future sale — especially if the EPA is being set up specifically because of an aging parent's declining health — registering upfront avoids the delay later. The $85 per parcel is a small cost compared to the stress of rushing a registration while simultaneously trying to sell a house to fund nursing home care.

Register when needed. If the grantor owns property but a sale is not foreseeable, some families wait and register only when a transaction becomes necessary. This saves the upfront fee but creates a time gap if circumstances change suddenly.

For families setting up an EPA because a parent has early-stage dementia or other progressive condition, immediate registration is the safer choice. The trajectory is predictable — at some point, the house may need to be sold to fund care — and having the registration already in place removes one more obstacle from an already stressful process.

Selling a Parent's House Under an EPA

Once the EPA is registered at the Land Registry, the attorney can proceed with a real estate sale. The practical steps:

1. Engage a New Brunswick real estate lawyer to handle the conveyance
2. List the property (the attorney acts as the seller on behalf of the grantor)
3. The lawyer verifies the registered EPA, confirms the attorney's authority, and processes the sale through PLANET
4. Land transfer tax applies — calculated on the higher of the sale price or the assessed value
5. Net proceeds go to the grantor's account and are managed by the attorney under their fiduciary obligations

The attorney must document the sale proceeds and their use in the transaction ledger required by Regulation 2020-43. Using proceeds from a property sale for anything other than the grantor's benefit is a breach of fiduciary duty.

The New Brunswick Power of Attorney Kit includes a property registration checklist and a real estate transaction guide — so families know exactly what documentation is needed and can work with their lawyer efficiently when a property sale becomes necessary.

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