Refinancing, moving to a new lender, or taking a new mortgage on a property you already own — with legal work handled by Giardino Law. Remote signing is guaranteed, and your final all-in quote is confirmed in writing.
Whether refinancing, switching, or financing a new draw, your file is handled by a real estate lawyer from start to finish.
We prepare all documents from your new lender — reviewing terms, ensuring accuracy, ready for signing.
We contact your current lender, obtain a payout statement, pay off the existing mortgage from new funds, and register the discharge.
We update the title with the new mortgage and remove the old one, with full registration at Alberta Land Titles.
All communication with both old and new lenders flows through our office. Funds move through our trust account, registered cleanly on title.
Our office confirms the next steps and available ways to receive updates. Call 780-473-7779 for a time-sensitive question or to confirm the current status.
Remote signing is guaranteed for your Alberta closing. We arrange your video appointment, required identity checks and any paper-original delivery and return.
The rule is simpler than most lenders explain it: any time a mortgage is registered on or discharged from your title at the Alberta Land Titles office, a lawyer handles it. That covers refinancing for a new amount, moving to a different lender, adding a HELOC or second mortgage, and adding or removing a borrower. The one common exception is a straight renewal — same lender, same loan amount, same borrowers — which the lender processes internally with nothing changing on title.
Here is the part that catches people: your lender does not send the new mortgage money to you. It sends instructions to the lawyer, who registers the new mortgage, pays out the old one from the new funds, registers the discharge, and only then releases any remaining equity to your account. The lender requires this sequence because its security is not valid until it sits on title — which is also why a refinance cannot be rushed past the registration step, no matter how motivated everyone is.
A scenario that helps you self-select: if you are consolidating debt through a refinance, the lender's instructions often require us to pay specific creditors directly from the new funds — credit cards, a car loan, a line of credit — before any balance reaches you. That is normal, it is part of the lender's conditions, and we walk you through the payout list on your statement before you sign. If your title carries surprises, like an old lien from a paid-off loan that was never discharged, the title search we run at file opening finds it early. We open files immediately once the client confirms, and a lawyer reviews every intake during office hours.
The Land Titles office charges the same registration formula for a mortgage as for a transfer: $50 plus $5 per $5,000 of value, effective October 20, 2024 (source: alberta.ca, verified June 2026). On a $300,000 new mortgage, that is $50 + (60 × $5) = $350, paid to the province. Your final all-in quote includes our legal fee, disbursements, applicable registration charges and taxes, confirmed in writing before work begins, as described on the pricing page. For a full itemized estimate, the free calculator takes about a minute and asks for no email.
Brokers use the terms loosely, but the distinction decides who pays the legal costs and how much paperwork the file carries. The legal mechanics — discharge the old charge, register the new one — are similar; the financial shape is not.
One honest note on fit: if your "new loan" is actually part of buying a different property — selling this home and porting the mortgage to the next one — that is a sale-and-purchase file, not a refinance, and the selling page describes the right starting point. If you are not sure which file yours is, call 780-473-7779 and describe the situation in a sentence; sorting that out takes two minutes and costs nothing. More answers live in the full FAQ.
Last reviewed: June 2026. Government fees cited are verified against alberta.ca as of the review date.
Yes. Any time a new mortgage is registered on title or an existing mortgage is discharged, a lawyer is required in Alberta. The only exception is renewing with the same lender at the same terms — that's typically handled directly by the lender.
Most new loan files close in 2 to 4 weeks from when we receive your lender's instructions. The timeline depends on how quickly your new lender sends instructions and your current lender provides the discharge statement. We keep you updated at every step.
If you're renewing with the same lender at the same terms, a lawyer is usually not required — the lender handles the renewal directly. If the loan amount, borrowers, or lender changes, a lawyer is needed.
We coordinate the full process. Once new mortgage funds arrive, we use them to pay off your old mortgage, obtain and register the discharge from your previous lender, and register the new mortgage — all handled for you.
The Land Titles office charges $50 plus $5 per $5,000 of value — the same formula used for land transfers, effective October 20, 2024 (source: alberta.ca, verified June 2026). On a $300,000 mortgage, that is $350, paid to the province. Our flat legal fee is separate and already includes standard disbursements; the free calculator shows your itemized total.
After the new mortgage is registered and your old mortgage is paid out. The lender sends funds to our trust account, we settle the payout list in the lender's instructions — old mortgage first, then any creditors named for consolidation — and the remaining equity is deposited to your account. We confirm each step as it completes.
Remote signing is guaranteed for your Alberta closing. We arrange your video appointment, required identity checks and any paper-original delivery and return. Your final all-in quote includes the services and applicable charges for your individual file.
Get a transparent quote, retain us online, and track every step of your closing in real time.
Planning your signing? Read how remote signing works in Alberta before choosing your next step.