Calgary Answers · Selling · Authority

Can Someone Sell a Homewith power of attorney?

Often yes, while the person is alive. The mistake families make is assuming it still works afterwards.

While the person is alive

An enduring power of attorney is the instrument that lets someone act on another person's property and financial affairs, including real estate, and continues to operate if that person loses capacity. That is the whole point of the word enduring.

Whether a particular document actually authorises a sale, and whether any conditions in it have been met, is a question for the lawyer handling the transaction — documents differ, and a buyer's lawyer will scrutinise it. Get it reviewed before the property is listed, not after an offer is accepted.

The distinction families get wrong

A power of attorney ends when the person dies. It does not become a lesser version of itself, and it does not carry over. From that moment the will and the personal representative govern, and the authority to deal with the house comes from the estate process instead.

This catches people mid-sale. An attorney who listed a home entirely properly can find, on a death partway through, that they no longer hold the authority to complete it — and that the sale now has to be picked up under a different process. It is manageable, but only if it is noticed immediately.

If circumstances change during a listing, tell your REALTOR® and your lawyer the same day. Authority is the one thing that cannot be sorted out retroactively at the closing table.

What to do before listing

  1. Have the document reviewed by the lawyer who will handle the sale.
  2. Confirm how title is registered — sole name or joint tenancy changes the picture entirely.
  3. Ask what the buyer's side will require to be satisfied, so it is assembled in advance.

Nothing here replaces advice from an Alberta estate lawyer. The role of a REALTOR® in an estate sale is to handle the property competently and to keep the sale in step with the legal process — not to run the legal process.