Purchasing a cottage often involves difficult legal issues regarding access. A lot of cottages are not located on year-round public roads. If access to the cottage is over private lands, the first step is to determine whether there is a registered right of way from the nearest public road to the cottage. If there is a deeded right of way you should ask your lawyer to confirm that there are no restrictions on the grant of right of way. You want to make sure that you have pedestrian and vehicular ingress and egress over the right of way. Unfortunately, there are many situations where there is no deeded right of way or there is a “gap” in the rights of way that have been granted. One solution is to obtain a right of way over the private lands. However, that requires the consent of the landowner and an application to the local Planning Board for approval. This process can take months and sometimes the landowner will not agree to the granting of a right of way. What then?
First Time Home Buyers / Land Transfer Tax
- by Oldham Law
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It is fairly common knowledge that first time homebuyers in Ontario do not have to pay land transfer tax. What is not as commonly known, is that if you owned a home with a prior spouse, but end that relationship and meet the legal definition of a spouse with a new partner, then you can still qualify to be exempt from land transfer tax. When you purchase, you will be required to swear an affidavit confirming the purchase of your prior home, the end of the prior relationship and status of your new relationship (being spouses). Obviously, your new spouse must be a first time home buyer for this all to work. Knowing this information can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in land transfer tax.