What is the test for interpretation of a land deed?

Nova Scotia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Robichaud v. Ellis, 2011 NSSC 86 (CanLII):

In the interpretation of a conveyance it is important to recall three governing principles: ..... (b) ... the court should construe the document as a whole, if possible giving meaning to all its words. . . . This principle applies to the interpretation of a deed: Anger and Honsberger, ¶ 25:40. Gale on Easements (Sweet v. Maxwell, 17th ed.) ¶ 9‑14 says: In the case of an express grant the language of the instrument must be referred to. The court will have regard to the conveyance as a whole, including any plan that forms part of it, even though the plan is not mentioned in the parcels or is said to be for identification purposes only. .... (c) Third, the court's first task is to determine whether an unambiguous intention is manifested objectively by the words of the deed, not by the parties' subjective wishes, motives or recollections. The primary source is the document, not the psyche. ..... In the process of interpretation, a court may not utilize the parties' subjective wishes, motives or intent to alter the unambiguous and objectively manifest intent in the deed's wording. When the words of a deed are not ambiguous, either in themselves or when applied to the land in question, the intention of the original grantor is to be taken from the words of the description in the deed. No further rules of interpretation are required....

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