Glossary
Glossary of Québec notarial law.
The key terms of notarial law in Québec, defined simply. For information only: for your specific situation, consult a notary.
- Notarial act
- An official legal document received or drafted by a notary, which gives it authentic status. In Québec, some acts (such as an immovable hypothec) must be notarized.
- Chain of title
- The chronological sequence of a property's ownership transfers and charges. Reconstructing it verifies that a seller holds a valid title.
- Title examination
- The notary's verification of a property's chain of title and charges from the Land Register, to establish the title's validity before a transaction.
- Location certificate
- A land surveyor's report describing a property's current state and situation (boundaries, servitudes, encroachments). Its content is governed by section 9 of RLRQ c. A-23, r. 10.
- Land Register
- Québec's public register where immovable rights (sales, hypothecs, servitudes) are published, making them enforceable against third parties.
- Charge
- A right that burdens a property, such as a hypothec or a servitude, limiting its use or value for the owner.
- Hypothec
- A real right on a property (or movable) securing an obligation. In Québec, an immovable hypothec granted by an individual must be made in notarial form.
- Servitude
- A charge on one property (the servient land) for the benefit of another (the dominant land), such as a right of way.
- Protection mandate
- A document by which a person designates in advance who will care for them and their property if they become incapable. It must be homologated by the court to take effect.
- Estate liquidation
- The operations that settle a deceased person's patrimony: identifying heirs, paying debts and partitioning property.
- Publication of rights
- The formality by which a right is entered in a public register (Land Register, RDPRM) to make it enforceable against third parties.
- Minute
- The original of a notarial act, kept by the notary and entered in their repertory. Copies issued to parties are drawn from the minute.
- Real-estate due diligence
- The set of checks performed before a real-estate transaction — titles, charges, compliance — to establish what is actually being bought. In Québec, the notary's title examination is its core.
- Hypothecary statement
- A common expression for the statement of entries (sales, hypothecs, servitudes) published against a property in the Land Register, showing the charges burdening it at a given time.
- Discharge
- The act that cancels a register entry — for example a repaid hypothec — upon presentation of a release or other supporting document.
- Renovated lot
- A lot number assigned during Québec's cadastral renovation, which replaced older designations. Older acts may cite former numbers, so concordance must then be established.
- Registration division
- A territorial division of Québec's Land Register (e.g. Montréal or Québec City). Each property falls under the division where it is located.
- Deed of sale
- The act transferring ownership of property from seller to buyer. For an immovable, it is generally notarized and published in the Land Register to be enforceable against third parties.
- Loan deed
- The act recording a loan and its terms (amount, interest, repayment). When an immovable hypothec granted by an individual secures it, that hypothec must be notarized.
- Release
- A document by which a creditor acknowledges having been paid. In hypothecary matters, a release supports the discharge of the hypothec's registration.
- Promise to purchase
- An offer by which a buyer proposes to acquire a property on stated terms; once accepted, it generally binds the parties, subject to the conditions it sets out.
- Declaration of co-ownership
- The constituting act that submits a building to divided co-ownership: it defines the private and common portions, the shares and the building's rules.
- Trust
- A mechanism by which property is set apart from a person's patrimony to be administered for a given purpose. Under Québec law, a trust has no separate legal personality.
- Thirty-year period
- In title examination, a property's history is generally traced back thirty years, a customary benchmark tied to thirty-year prescription. A different period may be required depending on the file.
- Good and marketable
- An expression describing a property title that is valid and free of serious defects. In practice, concluding on a title's quality belongs to the notary, after a full examination.
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