High Level Law

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VAFB Lethbridge - Veterans Association Southern Salute 50/50 & Raffle

Honour Our Heroes from Spring to Whoop-Up Finale. Winning Big for Southern Alberta Veterans!

Join us in our inaugural Southern Salute 50/50 & Raffle and help honour our heroes here in Southern Alberta! All funds raised through this exciting season long fundraiser running from May 1 to Aug 22, 2026 (closing on the final day of Whoop-Up Days) directly supports the Veterans Association in Lethbridge and across Southern Alberta.

Raffle Prize Package Includes:

NEXGRILL model: 720-0888SF valued at $350 approx. – donated by Home Depot Lethbridge

BBQ Flavour Pairings: Sauce, dry rubs, and other seasonings valued at $100 approx. – donated by The Stove Pipe

$100 Legacy Meats Gift Card – donated by the owner of Legacy Meats

Raffle Links:
👉️ https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/leth_bbq
👉️ https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/southernsalute5050

Voting starts tomorrow (April 3, 2026) for Kraft Hockeyville. Lets all support the Town of Taber:

https://hockeyville.kraftheinz.com/home

Good times for a good cause.....

Costs When Buying and Selling a Home:

When buying a house, most people only think about costs such as what downpayment amount they can afford and what the monthly mortgage will be, and do not always consider the other necessary costs that will arise. As a result, some people face a tough couple of months financially after they purchase a home because they were not prepared for these additional costs. These costs can include:

Deposit – This must be paid when you make an offer to purchase and must be a reasonable amount.

Home inspection – An inspection can be conducted to determine any structural or functional issues with the property, which can help you determine any necessary repairs you will need to make. This will help you decide whether a change in the purchase price should be negotiated, or if you even want to purchase the property at all.

Service Fees for Mortgage Broker and Lender – If you are working with a mortgage broker, you may need to pay their fees, as well as any fees the mortgage lender may decide are appropriate. Often there is the cost of an appraisal to be paid.

Mortgage Life Insurance – Can be obtained to pay out your mortgage is paid in the event of your death. This would be in addition to your monthly mortgage payment.

Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Fees - If you are not able to pay a downpayment of at least 20% of the purchase price, your mortgage will be classified as high-ratio and must be insured by CMHC in case of default (or thought a private mortgage insurance provider as chosen by your lender). The premiums for this vary on a sliding scale depending upon the amount of your down payment, and are paid out of the funds advanced by the lender for the mortgage, resulting in an increased principal mortgage amount owing. Generally, the smaller the downpayment the larger the insurance premium will be. The premium is blended into your mortgage, increasing your monthly payments.

Downpayment – Buyers are not able to finance 100% of the purchase price of a home. CMHC guidelines for a purchase price of $500,000 or less, the minimum down payment is 5%. When the purchase price is above $500,000, the minimum down payment is 5% for the first $500,000 and 10% for the remaining portion. Your specific mortgage company may require additional downpayment amounts.

Home Owners Insurance – If you are obtaining a mortgage, the lender will include a condition that you must insure your home against loss, naming the lender as the first beneficiary.

Legal Fees & Disbursements – Legal are fees charged by the lawyer to receive instructions from your lender, prepare your mortgage documents, as well as the additional documents to register the title of the property in your name with Alberta Land Titles. Disbursements are to fees, expenses, and costs associated with this registration. Disbursements will vary on all matters based on the value of the land, amount of the mortgage, status of title, etc. For example Alberta Land titles charges a flat rate of $50 plus 0.1% of the value of the land as a registration fee. They also charge the same formula base on the size of the mortgage to register a mortgage.

Property Tax Adjustment, Prepaid Utilities Adjustment – If the seller has pre-paid their yearly taxes and/or utilities, in addition to paying your pro-rated share of the current year’s taxes, you may also need to reimburse the seller for any tax credit or pre-paid taxes for the next year. Often this amount is not known at the time of purchase and only identified after the lawyer has done property tax searches.

Title Insurance – Provided by 3rd party insurance companies and may be mandatory depending on your lender.

GST – If you purchase a new home from a homebuilder or developer, GST will be charged on the purchase. You can also expect to pay GST on the fees charged by lawyers, home inspectors, surveyors, realtors and anyone else whose services you engage during the purchase process. There is currently a GST rebate on qualifying home purchases, but the rebate is only partial and is clawed back based on property value: lower priced homes are entitled to the full rebate and as the price of a home increases the rebate entitlement decreases.

Real Property Report - For Sellers, there can also be costs that were not anticipated, such as the cost of obtaining a new Real Property Report (RPR) if any permanent additions or significant reconfigurations have been made to the home, or any new permanent outbuildings have been constructed on the property. If a new RPR is required, the seller will pay for this cost, including any costs to ensure the property complies with municipal bylaws and standards.

Realtor’s Commission - Another cost which buyers and sellers must both be aware is the, which is typically a percentage of the sale price of the home. It is often paid out of the sale proceeds of the home, unless another arrangement has been made.

Other Costs – Other costs you may incur are those of hiring professional movers; connection fees for utilities such as electricity, gas, internet, etc.; landscaping the property; construction or repair of fences or decks; purchasing or replacing appliances; and ongoing home maintenance costs.

Estate Planning

Maybe you are one of the ones “planning” on getting a Will done – but just have not got around to it yet. I can tell you that in my law practice I see examples of what happens when someone just never quite “gets around to it”.

The law has a legal process (called intestacy) that applies when someone dies without a Will. The difference is that your estate will be handled based upon government rules. This means that people you may want to receive from your estate may not get anything, and equally people that you do not wish to receive anything from your estate may benefit greatly. You will not have any control over who your personal representative (executor) will be, or the ability to expand or limit that person’s authority. You will not have any input into how your estate will be divided. You will not have the ability to deal with trusts for minor beneficiaries or input on how investments are handled. You will not be able to choose a testamentary guardian for any dependent children. You will not be able to try to build flexibility to take into account potential changes to tax laws in the future.

This is only a few examples of issues that may arise by not having a Will. Most importantly, by not having your affairs in order, you will be leaving a lot of uncertainty and potential conflict for those you leave behind.

And your estate planning documents should be more than just a Will. Everyone should have a complete estate planning package that includes a Will, an Enduring Power of Attorney and a Personal Directive. A Will only comes into being when a person dies, and before that event it has no legal effect. We can all expect that at some point we will all die. However, it is also reasonable to expect that at some point due to health, illness, or age related deterioration that we may face periods of time when we are not functioning to our full mental capacity. In this event your Will, and the person appointed thereunder, has no legal authority – as you are still alive although you may be incapacitated.

An Enduring Power of Attorney and a Personal Directive are sometimes collectively called a “Living Will”. These allow you to designate someone to look after your financial affairs (Enduring Power of Attorney) and your personal affairs such as medical decisions (Personal Directive). These documents allow you to make advance medical decisions on the type of medical treatment you do or do not want, how your property is to be managed, and your wishes for your day-to-day living arrangements. Making these decisions in advance can greatly reduce the burden placed on your loved ones.

If you do not have these documents in place then someone must make a formal application to the Court to have you placed under a Guardianship Order and/or a Trusteeship Order. This court process is a much more in-depth process than the relatively simple process of signing an Enduring Power of Attorney and a Personal Directive. Also, because you have not made advance decisions/instructions then a person assisting you under the court’s authority will not have the ability to address issues you may have otherwise preferred be addressed. Since the court is not aware of what your personal wishes would have been, there are limitations on the powers that the court can authorize to your Guardian and Trustee.

All too often I am contacted with a request to do estate planning documents after someone has started to decline – at a point when it is too late as they no longer have the requisite mental capacity to sign estate planning documents. There are no guarantees in life and no one knows what tomorrow will bring. I think everyone owes it to themselves and their loved ones to ensure that they have their personal affairs in order.

Please note our offices are closed on Canada Day.

As Albertans we have had more than our share of natural disasters in recent memory. Our hearts go out to those who are now under threat from wildfires in our Province as well as in other Provinces. A donation has been made on behalf of High Level Law to the Canadian Wildfire Fund. Please consider helping out with a donation as well if you are able: https://give.redcross.ca/page/24CWFA

Other Costs When Buying and Selling a Home

When buying a house, most people only think about the immediate costs, such as qualifying and paying for a mortgage, and do not always consider other necessary costs that will arise. As a result, many people face a tough couple of months financially after they purchase a home because they were not prepared for these additional costs. These costs include:

Deposit – This must be paid when you make an offer to purchase and must be a reasonable amount.

Home inspection –An inspection can be conducted to determine any structural or functional issues with the property, which can help you determine any necessary repairs you will need to make. This will help you decide whether a change in the purchase price should be negotiated, or if you even want to purchase the property at all.

Service Fees for Lender – If you are working with a mortgage company, you may need to pay an application and/or other fees, as determined by the lender.

Mortgage Life Insurance – Can be obtained to pay out your mortgage is paid in the event of your death.

Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Fees – Buyers are not able to finance 100% of the purchase price of a home, and must have a down payment of at least 5% of the purchase price of the home. If you are not able to put down 20% of the purchase price, your mortgage will be classified as high-ratio and must be insured by CMHC in case of default. The premiums for this vary on a sliding scale depending upon the amount of your down payment, and are paid out of the funds advanced by the lender for the mortgage, resulting in an increased principal mortgage amount owing.

Home Owners Insurance – If you are obtaining a mortgage, the lender will include a condition that you must insure your home against loss, naming the lender as the first loss payable.

Legal Fees & Disbursements – These are fees charged by the lawyer to receive instructions from your lender, prepare your mortgage documents, as well as the additional documents to register the title of the property in your name with Alberta Land Titles, and to pay the government fees associated with this registration.

Property Tax Adjustment, Prepaid Utilities Adjustment –If the seller has paid their yearly taxes (and in some cases utilities), the buyer will need to reimburse taxes paid for the current tax year on a pro-rated basis for the length of time for which the buyer will own the property. If the seller has not paid the taxes for the current tax year (or prior) then the seller will have to reimburse the buyer on a pro-rated basis for the length of time for which the seller will have owned the property. Equally if a seller has prepaid taxes for the upcoming tax year, this amount will have to be reimbursed by the buyer.

Title Insurance – Provided by 3rd party insurance companies and may be mandatory depending on your lender.

GST – If you purchase a new home from a homebuilder or developer, GST will be charged on the purchase. You can also expect to pay GST on the fees charged by lawyers, home inspectors, surveyors, realtors and anyone else whose services you engage during the purchase process. There is currently a GST rebate on qualifying home purchases, but the rebate is only partial and is clawed back based on property value: lower priced homes are entitled to the full rebate and as the price of a home increases the rebate entitlement decreases.

Other Costs – Other costs you may incur are those of hiring professional movers; connecting services such as electricity, gas, internet, etc.; landscaping the property; construction or repair of fences or decks; purchasing or replacing appliances; and ongoing home maintenance costs.

For Sellers, there can also be costs that were not anticipated, such as:

Real Property Report - the cost of obtaining a new RPR. A new RPR that shows the new state of the property must be obtained if any permanent additions or significant reconfigurations have been made to the home, or any new permanent outbuildings have been constructed on the property. If a new RPR is required, the standard practice is that the seller will pay for this cost, unless other arrangements have been agreed to (i.e. title insurance).

Tax Adjustments - the seller will still have to pay its proportionate share of taxes for the current calendar year if not paid already, and the lawyers will adjust for this.

Realtor’s Commission - Another cost which buyers and sellers must both be aware is the, which is typically a percentage of the sale price of the home. It is often paid out of the sale proceeds of the home, unless another arrangement has been made.

Mortgage Prepayment Penalty – When selling a property and paying off the mortgage, the seller’s mortgage company may impose a prepayment penalty for paying the mortgage off early and not completing the full term of the mortgage. Sellers should ask their mortgage company if they will be subject to a prepayment penalty and how much.

Legal Fees & Disbursements – See above.