At the heart of being a Notary Public is simply people. Sharing knowledge, being of service, and building community—all of the things you’ll catch us doing in and outside of our office in Fort St. John, for the province of British Columbia.
We’re here for you. Here to share advice openly and honestly, and here to guide you through the process of buying a home, creating a will, signing a declaration, and making the best decisions for your life.
Fort St. John is the community we call home, full of faces old and new. Full of past teachers and family friends, of newcomers finding their place in the rhythm of a well-loved community and of people making their mark for only a short time. This place is people, and we’re proud to be a Notary Public office in service of British Columbia, in service of you.
“Our experience with Jeannotte Notaries was exceptional. Each and every person within the organization we interacted with was professional, attentive and empathetic throughout the process. They were exceptionally easy to talk to and had all of our answers on hand when asked. I would recommend this team to anyone looking to buy or sell in the North Peace area. Great work.”
We’ve curated a collection of verified resources for you to browse, compiled to empower you with the knowledge you need to navigate the world of the law efficiently. We’ll be here to answer all your questions, but for those of you interested, here are your trusted resources.
It is never too early to start your estate plan. An estate plan includes;
Your estate plan will organize your affairs, document your wishes, and ensure you are taken care of during your elder years or during incapacity. By having these documents prepared, you are making wishes and instructions known to your family and friends. This will help them assist you.
At your first appointment, you do not need to have all the answers. You only need to make an appointment to start the process for your estate plan.
Please bring in two pieces of valid identification to your appointment. You can also bring in your old Will and any information on Property you own such as a BC Assessment or State of Title Certificate.
The first appointment with you is typically one hour. At this appointment we will work together to outline an estate plan to meets your needs. We will discuss who should do the essential jobs in the estate planning documents, such as; executor, guardian, attorney and representative. We will discuss how your loved ones should inherit your assets and what kind of tax planning is appropriate for your estate.
Once your estate planning documents are prepared, you will come back to our office to review and sign. In most cases, we like to schedule the signing appointment within a week of the first appointment. Once your estate planning documents are signed, you take home the original signed documents. Our office will keep a copy of the documents, however, we do not keep original signed estate planning documents.
Your spouse and children do not automatically inherit your estate if you die without a Will. They also cannot automatically sign on your behalf if you lose capacity. In order to help your family and friends manage your affairs when you have lost capacity or when you die, appointing someone to be your attorney or executor in your Will can be done by a Power of Attorney and Will prepared by our office.
Simply put – a Will states your wishes for your estate after you die. Your Will states your beneficiaries, appoints guardianship for minor children, appoints a primary and alternate executor, and states other details such as funeral arrangements.
If you die without a Will, the legislation states what will happen to your estate. This is based on a set of rules set out in the Wills Estate Succession Act.
If you don’t have a Will then you haven’t appointed a guardian to look after your children. The court will appoint a guardian if you have children under 19 years old. The Public Guardian and Trustee is brought in to administer your estate for your minor children. Therefore, custody of your minor children and property distribution may not occur per your wishes.
The Public Guardian and Trustee becomes the trustee and will hold shares of your estate in trust for your child or any beneficiary until they’re 19 years old. The surviving parent or guardian would have to apply to the Public Guardian and Trustee for any money needed for things like living expenses or education. This can be a hardship if the child is quite young and the parent or guardian needs the money for day-to-day expenses.
You can purchase do-it-yourself estate planning kits. These resources require you to fill out the kit and choose the right documents for your situation. Unfortunately, these documents can be incorrectly filled out which could lead them to be invalid, and leave your family members with legal fees to pay out of pocket.
Creating a Will gives peace-of-mind that your loved ones will be cared for, and ensures that assets will be distributed per your wishes.
A legal document that appoints a person to make legal and financial decisions on your behalf.
Although planning for the worst is not something we want to think about, it is something that we should do for the sake of your family and loved ones. In an event where you have a debilitating disease such as mental illness, accident or stroke, an Enduring Power of Attorney will allow your designated attorney to make important financial and legal decisions on your behalf.
An Enduring Power of Attorney is the most common form of Power of Attorney. An enduring Power of Attorney is a document that you (a capable adult) can use to appoint another person, called an attorney, to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf. It continues (or endures) even if you become mentally incapable. Without an enduring power of attorney, if you become incapable, someone (such as your spouse or other family member) may have to apply to BC Supreme Court to be appointed your committee of estate to look after your legal and financial affairs.
The person who you appoint as your attorney should be someone who is prepared to accept the responsibility. The person must be 19 years or older, must be mentally capable and understand what it means to have power of attorney. Your attorney can be a spouse, friend or family member.
An attorney’s authority starts from the moment the Enduring Power of Attorney is signed, not when a need arises so it is essential that the person is trustworthy. There are some precautions a person can take to prevent it from being used while you are still able to look after your affairs. These precautions can be discussed in further details during your appointment.
Yes, you can. You can decide if you want your attorney to be a primary (first attorney) and alternate (second attorney), or if you want your attorneys to work together (jointly) or separately.
A Power of Attorney cannot be used for health or personal care decisions. The document to appoint someone to help you with your heath care or personal care is called a Representation Agreement.
A Representation Agreement is a document that appoints someone to help you with health care and personal care decisions. The person you name to help you is called a Representative. Depending on the powers you want to give your Representative, they can either help you make a wide range of decisions, or they can make these decisions for you if you become incapable.
With a Representation Agreement, you have a say in who will make personal and health care decisions for you if you become incapable. You may be able to reduce the burden on your family and friends. And you can avoid the government being involved in your personal and health care decisions.
A Section 7 Representation Agreement is intended for people who do not have full mental capacity at the time the document is prepared. The Section 7 Representation Agreement deals with routine management of financial affairs, legal services, personal care and major and minor health care.
A Section 9 Representation Agreement is intended for people with full mental capacity and who want to appoint a person with general powers to make health and personal care decisions on their behalf. A representative with general powers may give or refuse consent to health care, including health care necessary to your preserve life.
The search starts with finding a real estate agent that understands your wish list for a new home. The agent will meet with you to determine what you want in a home, and will start researching properties that are within your criteria.
When it comes to options for financing, you should do some research and determine what lender will be the best fit for you. There are three main sources of financing; traditional banks, mortgage brokers and private financing. It is important to start the approval application early in the home buying process to ensure that you understand your budget for your home search.
This is an exciting period. You know the type of home you want and the price you can afford, and now you can start searching for your new home. If you are working with a real estate agent, you will select and view properties listed through other agents. If you want to represent yourself and purchase a property privately, you can search for properties on websites like kijiji.ca, fsjnow.com or on Facebook.
Once you have found a home, the next step is to prepare and present an offer. There are several steps that have to be taken when you write your offer.
Property research – With the help of your agent, you can investigate the selling history of the home and determine if the house is listed for market value. To do an assessment, your real estate agent will compare current homes on the market and properties which have recently sold. This important information will help to determine what your offer price will be.
Terms – Terms are the clauses that make up the contract. These are the items that are agreed to and will be upheld, otherwise there is a breach of contract. In addition to the standard terms that will be reviewed with you when preparing the offer, you can add in whatever else you need to; however, these are open for negotiation.
Price – there are two things that are negotiable in a real estate transaction, price and terms. Once you know the terms and conditions you would like on the contract, and you have completed your property research, you can now effectively determine the appropriate offer price.
Conditions – Conditions, or “subject to” clauses, are clauses in the contract that must be fulfilled in order for the transaction to even proceed forward. Typical conditions are for the Buyer to get a home inspection and for the Buyer to be approved for financing.
Deposits – In order to write an offer, you need to pay a deposit. This is initially a show of good faith in the transaction and is refundable if the conditions on the purchase are not removed. After the conditions are satisfied and removed in writing, the deposit becomes the seller’s security that you will complete the purchase, and is now non-refundable.
Offer and acceptance – Once the offer is written and signed, your real estate agent will present the offer to the Seller. The Seller can accept your offer, or can counter-offer. You and the Seller will negotiate a price, and if the Seller accepts, you now have a pending contract.
Book in your File – It is now time to contact our office to represent you in the real estate transaction.
Once the offer is accepted, it is time to work on satisfying your conditions. The most common conditions are;
Subject to financing – This condition allows you to determine if you can get approval for financing to purchase the home. You will provide your mortgage specialist with your personal information and with the new home information. The mortgage specialist will request an appraisal and do a credit check. They will discuss options for down payment, whether it is 5%, 10% or 20+% down. The mortgage specialist will also discuss additional costs to budget for, such as; property transfer tax, title insurance, adjustments for property taxes or strata fees, and your legal costs.
Subject to inspection – A home inspection is a thorough visual assessment of the home conducted by a certified professionally trained inspector. The purpose is to reveal any issues that might become problems for you in the short or long term. An inspection will typically include a walk-through tour of the home, in which the condition of the property is closely scrutinized, any defects and deficiencies are noted, and recommendations for repair are made. During the inspection, the inspector will look for any problems that could have a significant impact from a health and safety perspective or that may cost money to repair in the future.
Subject to obtaining fire insurance – A condition of your mortgage is to obtain fire insurance. You will need to contact an insurance broker and get confirmation that you can obtain insurance on the home. Once the contract is firm, you will need to purchase fire insurance and provide our office with the name of the insurance broker.
After the information is collected, a decision to proceed (or not) is made, and the written notice is given to the Seller. Once the conditions are removed, the sale is considered “firm”.
At this step – your real estate agent will send our office the real estate documents and your lender will send us the mortgage instructions. Our office will contact you via email or phone to request your personal information required for your file.
In this step, our office will work diligently on preparing your file, and will be in contact with you to request information, verify the mortgage information, and schedule your signing appointment with the Notary Public. Typically, we like to schedule your signing appointment at least 2-3 days prior to completion. Prior to the signing appointment, we will email you the “statement of adjustments”. This statement will outline the exact amount of money required to purchase your home. Items that are included in the statement are;
Typical possessions are 30 – 60 days, however, they may be quicker. The items below should be completed as fast as possible to alleviate a large amount of stress.
Here is a Guide to Prepare for Possession:
Meet with your Notary Public – You will sign the legal documents at our office 2-3 days before possession. Our office will email you 2-4 days before your appointment with the amount of money to bring in for your down payment and closing costs. At your signing appointment, you will bring in your bank draft. We cannot accept a personal cheque or cash.
Make sure your mortgage specialist or mortgage broker has everything they need to satisfy the lender – Follow up with your bank to ensure they have everything needed for your new mortgage.
Contact an insurance broker and obtain property insurance.
Transfer utility accounts to new property – When you take possession of your new home it is very important to change your utilities over to your address in advance.
Reserve Movers – If you are using professional movers, book early. Possession dates commonly fall on the 1st, 30th, or 15th of the month. Movers fill up their schedule very fast, so call ahead and make the arrangements early.
Update your Address – Gather all of your bills, statements, tax information, healthcare information, anything you make automatic payments on, any subscriptions, any clubs or organizations in which you belong, etc. Sit down and make a big list of these things early. Then pick up the phone and begin giving out your new mailing address and the date you will be taking possession or moving in. You might also want to have your mail forwarded, through the post office, for anything you may have missed. **If you are buying a property in Fort St. John you may have a community mail box. You will need to go to Canada Post after possession to request a mail key for your new mail box.
Our office will complete the registration with the Land Title Office and contact your real estate agent once we have received registration. Your agent will contact you and ensure you receive the keys to your new home!
After you take possession, the transaction is complete. We will send a reporting package to you in the mail with the registered land title documents and state of title certificate. We keep copies of your documents on file in our office, therefore, if you have any questions in the future, please feel free to contact our office.
250 787 1163
250 787 1164
Monday – Friday 9:00AM – 4:30PM admin@fsjnotary.com
102, 9712 101 Avenue, Fort St. John, BC V1J 2A8
Drop-in Notarizations: Wednesdays from 10 AM – 11 AM (based on Notary Public availability)Let’s get to work. For all your legal needs, just use the form below. Provide a detailed overview of your inquiry, and we’ll contact you to schedule an appointment. If you’d like to call to make an appointment, we look forward to speaking with you! Please note, for all form and email inquiries, our general response time is one day.
