Rural disputes – Understanding your land title

The Farmers' Advocate Office (FAO) has produced a new resource for landowners who are hoping to gain a better understand their land title.

The document offers a visual overview of land titles, explaining the language and notations most commonly experienced by Alberta farmers and ranchers. The document, Understanding Your Land Title, is available online, but can also be mailed to those who prefer hard copy. Click here to view the document digitally.

The FAO offers several key pieces of advice to landowners regarding their title:

• Keep your address up to date.
  "The address on your title is the one that will be used by energy and utility companies if they need to get in touch with you," explains Jeana Schuurman, rural engagement and communications specialist with the FAO. "Make sure your title is linked to whatever mailbox you check the most regularly."

• Be careful when adding names on title.
  "Sometimes people think that "adding another name on title" is a relatively benign action, but there could be unintended repercussions if the options are not well understood," warns Schuurman, "If you add a joint tenant, you are actually conveying partial ownership, which means that if one party was to pass away, the other would automatically receive the estate." Registry offices will not give business advice, and the FAO suggests consulting a lawyer before making these types of changes on title.

• Keep copies of your agreements with energy and utility companies.
  "Many landowners assume that copies of their surface leases and right-of-way agreements are stored on their land titles, but they are not," explains Schuurman. "It is important to keep copies of your agreements in case problems with the site arise or the company does not pay its annual rental."

For more information, please call 310-FARM (3276) or email [email protected].