How to Register a Severance of Joint Tenancy

Step 1: Lands Office is Contacted

A Community member has contacted you requesting to transfer their Joint Tenancy Joint Tenancy is a form of ownership by two or more persons of the same property. The individuals, who are called joint tenants, share equal ownership of the property and have the equal, undivided right to keep or dispose of the property. Joint Tenancy does not apply to reserves in the Province of Quebec with the exception of Akwesasne Indian Reserve No. 15. interest to another community member.

Step 2: Take Notes

Use the Lands File Note template for the conversation or email noting the following:

• Grantor The person, corporation, partnership or other entity from who the interest in acquired. (Lawful Possessor A Band/First Nation member who has been allotted the right to use and occupy a parcel or parcels of reserve land pursuant to the Indian Act.  An active Lawful Possessor is the current possessor, while an inactive Lawful Possessor is the former possessor./CP Holder)

  • Full legal name (as shown on their band card)

  • Indian Registration Number The number assigned to an instrument registered in the Indian Lands Registry System.

  • Physical mailing address

  • Phone number and email address

  • Legal land description

  • Identify how the Grantee The person, corporation, partnership or other entity acquiring the interest. is to hold the land (if more than one person receiving the interest)

• Grantee (person receiving the land)

  • Full legal name (as shown on their band card)

  • Indian Registration Number (status card number)

  • Physical mailing address

  • Phone number and email address.

Step 3: Research & Verification

• Pull Parcel An area of reserve land regardless of dimension. Abstract

  • Ensure the land is registered to the lawful possessor

  • Review for any encumbrances i.e. mortgages, easements, permits

  • eRIP for access purposes (not to be used an official admin plan) or

  • Google Earth for access purposes (not to be used an official admin survey plan)

  • Print Survey plan from one of the following sources.

    • Internal lands file

    • Google Earth

    • NRCan Survey Plan Search (your will require the plan number)

• Have your Membership Officer verify the personal information is accurate to the Indian Registry System (IRS) – (if you don’t have access to this)

• Have your finance department verify that there are no internal financial encumbrances are on the land being transferred

Step 4: How to Prepare the Land Transfer

• Obtain your transfer form

• Ensure Land Transfer The process which allows a lawful possessory (locatee) to give his or her lawful possession of reserve land to another member of the First Nation, or Band, under section 24 of the Indian Act. information from the Lands File Note/research is correctly transposed into Land Transfer Form

• Ensure the Transfer of Land is dated

• Ensure the transfer is signed by a witness (who must be over the age of 18)

• Ensure that a monetary value is identified

• Ensure that the Affidavit of Execution A written statement, sworn before a person having authority to administer an oath, by a person having witnessed a document testifying to the document having been signed by the parties thereof. is signed by a Commissioner of Oaths or Notary Public

Witness and commissioner cannot be the same person.

If two or more individuals are receiving the land, it is encouraged the use of joint tenancy or tenancy in common agreement forms, so that the parties understand how they hold the interest.

Step 5: Matrimonial Real Property Requirements

Under the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act (FHRMIRA) the Provisional Federal Rules will apply:

A locatee must obtain their spouse’s or common-law partner’s consent if the transfer will dispose of or encumber the family home. the following forms may be applicable:

• Assessment of Matrimonial Real Property and Statutory Declaration Form

• Statutory Declaration of Spouse or Common-Law Partner Form

• Ensure that the applicable forms are signed by a Commissioner of Oaths or Notary Public

If the transferee/applicant has a spouse and is separated, and also has a common-law partner, both would be required to execute this form. 

Each situation is unique, please contact the Lands Officer at your Regional Lands Office to determine which forms are applicable in specific scenarios.  You may also refer to resources on the www.coemrp.ca website.

If your Band has enacted their own Matrimonial Real Property Law under the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act (FHRMIRA), please refer to your law to clarify specific processes required for a transfer of land.

Step 6:  Register with the Indian Land Registry Office

This can be accomplished by one of the following processes [see Preparation Checklist for Registering a Transfer]

• Application for Registration Form

• Online Application (ILRS Citrix).

• Send finished original package to your Regional Office.

Step 7:  Distribution

• Once you receive a Certificate of Possession, issue the one original copy to the locatee(s). (Inform the CP Holder, that only one original copy is issued

• Ensure you keep a duplicate copy of the certificate of possession along with a copy of the application package in your local First Nations lands file.

Completed lands registry documents are classified as Protected B documents, please ensure you are protecting the information of your clients by securing these documents in a responsible manner - for more information on the Federal Privacy Act & the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA is the federal privacy law for private-sector organizations. It sets out the ground rules for how businesses must handle personal information in the course of their commercial activity. For more information visit https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/ENG/ACTS/P-8.6/index.html