The district registrar does not examine agreements attached to caveats to ensure compliance with The Homesteads Act (other than statutory easements). Often these agreements are not attached. This does not mean that The Homesteads Act does not apply to dispositions registered by way of caveat.
Parties drafting agreements that they intend to register by way of caveat should ensure that they have obtained Homesteads Act consents where appropriate.
In Hildebrandt v. Hildebrandt, 2009 MBQB 52, [2009] W.D.F.L. 2526, 238 Man. R. (2d) 71, 68 R.F.L. (6th) 105 the Manitoba Court of Appeal held that the term disposition in The Homesteads Act applies to both legal and equitable dispositions. In Hildebrandt, an equitable mortgage registered by way of caveat was found to be invalid with no registration priority because it lacked the consent of the spouse with Homesteads Act rights. The Court held that it could not dispense with the missing consent, as the consent was prerequisite to a valid disposition. The Court couldn’t validate an earlier and otherwise prohibited disposition.