Real estate

As tutor or curator, you may at some point want to buy or sell a home or building on behalf of the person whose property you administer. Here are some pointers to guide you.

Buying real estate

Your obligations

You are in one of the following situations:

You are paying cash for the property: the Civil Code of Québec regards this as a presumed sound investment.
You are contracting a mortgage: if you are the tutor, you have to ask permission from the tutorship council, and in some cases even the court.

When buying real estate

We advise you to make sure:

that the transaction is in the interests of the person under your protection;
that you are buying at a good price;
that there is clear title to the property (undisputed ownership).

We recommend that you:

have the property inspected (inspection fees are paid from the protected person's patrimony);
check that the asking price reflects the property's fair market value and if necessary, request an evaluation.

Do not put yourself in a situation that creates a conflict of interest.

Selling real estate

You should only consider selling a piece of real estate if absolutely necessary (e.g. to pay the accommodation fees of the person under protection).

Your obligations

If you are a tutor you must always obtain authorization before selling a building-- either from the tutorship council, if the market value is less than $25,000, or from the court, if the market value exceeds $25,000.

If you are a curator: even in cases where the advice of the tutorship council is not formally required, we recommend talking things over with the council members before you go ahead with a real estate transaction.

When selling real estate

We advise you to:

ensure the transaction is the interests of the person under your protection;
obtain an accurate evaluation of the building;
avoid putting yourself in a situation that creates a conflict of interest.