Writing a Will in Canada: A Step-by-Step Guide
A will is a legal document that outlines how a person's assets will be distributed after their death. It's an important part of estate…
When someone dies in Ontario, a process starts almost immediately, and most people have never seen it before. There is no reason you would have. Forms arrive, institutions ask for documents you have never heard of, and everyone seems to assume you already know what a probate certificate is.
This guide explains it from the beginning. What has to happen in the first few days, what can wait, what probate actually means, whether you will need it at all, and what it costs. It assumes no legal background.
Take it at whatever pace you can manage. Very little of it is genuinely urgent, and I have flagged the few things that are.
The first few days
For an expected death, call the doctor who was caring for the person. For an unexpected one, call emergency services.
Someone then has to register the death, which takes two documents. A doctor or coroner completes the Medical Certificate of Death. The funeral director and a family member complete the Statement of Death. Both go to the municipal clerk’s office, usually in the municipality where the death happened.
A funeral director normally handles all of this. If you are not using one, you can register the death yourself, and the Province sets out how. The municipality issues a burial permit only after you register the death, and a burial or cremation cannot go ahead until the permit exists.
Order more death certificates than you think you need
This is the practical tip I give everyone. Banks, insurers, pension administrators, the land registry and utility companies all want proof of death, and several will keep the copy you send them.
The funeral director can issue a death certificate. You can also request an official provincial one through ServiceOntario once you have registered the death. Order a handful at the start rather than one at a time over six months.
The first few weeks
Once the funeral is behind you, a short list of things genuinely does need attention.
- Find the will. Check the home, any safety deposit box, and the person’s lawyer. If you cannot find it, the estates office of the local Superior Court can tell you whether anyone deposited a will there.
- Apply for the CPP death benefit within 60 days. This is the one real deadline in the early weeks. If there is an estate, the executor should apply within 60 days of the date of death.
- Secure the property. Empty homes need insurance that covers vacancy. Many policies stop covering a property after 30 days empty, and insurers do enforce that.
- Notify the institutions. Banks, pension providers, Service Canada, ServiceOntario, insurers. An accessible parking permit has to go back within 30 days.
- Redirect the mail and cancel subscriptions. Dull, but it prevents identity fraud on a deceased person’s accounts, which happens more often than people expect.
The CPP death benefit is a one-time payment of $2,500. For deaths on or after 1 January 2025 a top-up of a further $2,500 exists in narrow circumstances, where the person never drew a CPP retirement or disability pension and leaves no spouse eligible for a survivor’s pension. Payment takes six to twelve weeks.
One thing not to do
Do not distribute anything yet. Not the money, not the jewellery, not the car. An estate trustee who pays out early and then discovers a debt, a tax bill or another beneficiary can end up personally liable for the shortfall.
Grieving families sometimes settle things among themselves in the first month, and that creates more than an accounting problem. It can produce genuine litigation, legal costs the estate never needed to spend, and family feuds that outlast the estate itself.
What probate actually is
Probate is the court process that confirms who has authority to deal with the estate. In Ontario the court issues a document called a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, and it does two things: it confirms the will is valid, and it confirms the person named on it can act.
The person you appoint in your will to administer your estate is commonly called your executor. Ontario’s court forms use the term “estate trustee”, and Ontario wills still use “executor” as well. People use the two terms interchangeably, and they mean the same thing.
What matters in practice is that banks and the land registry will usually not release anything without the certificate. They are not being obstructive. They need the court’s confirmation that the person in front of them can act, because an institution that releases assets to the wrong person answers for it afterwards.
When you need probate, and when you don’t
Not every estate needs it. The deciding factor is the type of assets, not the size of the estate or whether there is a will.
You will usually need probate if
- The person owned real property in their name alone, or their share does not pass by right of survivorship
- The estate has to sell real property, in which case obtain the certificate before signing any agreement of purchase and sale
- A bank or investment firm wants proof of authority before releasing funds
- There is no will, or the will names no estate trustee
- Someone disputes the will, or disputes who should administer the estate
- A beneficiary is a minor or cannot give legal consent
Some assets bypass probate entirely
- Property held in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship, which passes automatically to the surviving joint owner
- Real property that qualifies for the First Dealings Exemption under Ontario’s land titles system
- RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs and pensions with a named beneficiary
- Life insurance payable to a named beneficiary rather than to the estate
- Assets already held in a trust
Before you apply, call the institutions holding the assets and ask whether they actually require a certificate. Some banks release modest balances without one, on an indemnity. That single phone call occasionally saves an estate several thousand dollars, and it is worth making before anyone fills in a court form.
What probate costs in Ontario
The main cost is Estate Administration Tax, which most people still call probate fees. The first $50,000 of the estate attracts no tax. Above that, it is $15 for every $1,000, which works out at 1.5%. The Province publishes an Estate Administration Tax calculator if you want to check a figure yourself.
| Value of the estate | Estate Administration Tax |
|---|---|
| $50,000 | Nil |
| $250,000 | $3,000 |
| $500,000 | $6,750 |
| $1,000,000 | $14,250 |
| $2,000,000 | $29,250 |
You pay the tax when you file the application, and it applies to the assets that pass through the estate. Assets that bypass probate do not count towards it, which is why the list above matters financially as well as procedurally.
People often miss one deduction. You can deduct a mortgage or other debt secured against Ontario real property from the value of that property for this calculation. On a house with a substantial mortgage, that makes a real difference.
Legal fees and estate trustee compensation sit outside the tax. The conventional common law rule for compensation is 2.5% of capital receipts and 2.5% of capital disbursements, subject always to the court’s assessment of what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances.
Small estates: the $150,000 route
Since April 2021, an estate worth $150,000 or less can use a simplified process and apply for a Small Estate Certificate instead. The forms are shorter, and the court usually does not require a bond.
Two things get confused here, so it is worth being precise. The $150,000 threshold decides which process you use. The $50,000 exemption decides how much tax you pay. A $140,000 estate qualifies for the simplified route and still pays tax on the $90,000 above the exemption, which is $1,350.
Where you file, and how long it takes
Where the deceased lived at the time of death generally determines where you file. The application goes to the Superior Court of Justice in the county or district where they lived.
The Province says the court typically processes applications within 15 business days. Treat that as a starting point rather than a promise. Each jurisdiction runs at its own pace, and in Toronto the Superior Court of Justice can take months to issue a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee.
Assembling the application also takes longer than most people expect. You need the original will, proof of death, and a full valuation of the estate as at the date of death, which means date-of-death balances from every institution and often an appraisal of any real property. You must serve the beneficiaries before you file, not after.
Mistakes cost time here more than anywhere else. If documents are missing, or the court finds the forms improperly completed, it can ask for revisions or return the application in full, and you start the wait again. A lawyer who prepares these regularly will shorten that considerably.
Delays also come from a bond requirement or from a beneficiary nobody can locate. The court requires a bond where there is no will, where the applicant is not the trustee named in the will, or where the applicant lives outside Ontario. The bond normally runs to double the value of the estate unless a judge orders otherwise, and a motion to dispense with it adds further time.
A straightforward estate might settle in six months. One with property to sell, a business interest or a family disagreement can take well over a year.
After the certificate arrives
Two obligations follow, and both are easy to miss.
First, the Estate Information Return goes to the Ministry of Finance within 180 calendar days of the court issuing the certificate. It lists the estate’s assets and their date-of-death values.
Second, the tax returns. The final return for the deceased generally falls due on 30 April of the following year, or six months after the date of death where the death occurred in November or December. Before you distribute the estate, apply to the Canada Revenue Agency for a clearance certificate. Distribute without one and you remain personally exposed for unpaid tax, which is a genuinely uncomfortable position to find yourself in.
Passing of accounts
An estate trustee has to account for what they have done. That means keeping a proper record of everything that came into the estate and everything that went out, and then putting that record to the beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries have to agree to it, and that includes the disbursements made along the way and the compensation the trustee proposes to take. Where everyone is content, you can usually handle this informally, with the beneficiaries approving the accounts and signing a release. Where they are not, you apply to the court to pass the accounts, and the court reviews the record and decides what is fair.
This is where an estate trustee’s personal liability becomes real. You answer for the decisions you made, the money you spent and the compensation you claim, and you answer with your own records as the evidence. A trustee who kept receipts and a clear ledger has a short conversation. A trustee who did not can face reduced compensation, a contested passing, and in a serious case personal responsibility for a loss the estate suffered.
Understand this at the start rather than the end, because it shapes how you keep records from the first week, and it is a good reason to have someone check that each step has been properly executed as you go.
Frequently asked questions
Do you always need probate in Ontario?
No. It depends on what the person owned. If everything passed by joint ownership or by beneficiary designation, you may need nothing from the court. If the deceased held real property in their sole name, or a bank insists, you will need a certificate.
How much does probate cost in Ontario?
Estate Administration Tax is nil on the first $50,000 and $15 per $1,000 above that. A $500,000 estate pays $6,750. Legal fees and estate trustee compensation sit outside the tax.
How much does an estate trustee receive?
The conventional rule is 2.5% of capital receipts and 2.5% of capital disbursements, subject to the court’s view of what is fair and reasonable. The beneficiaries have to approve the compensation as part of approving the accounts.
What if there is no will?
The Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26 decides who inherits, rather than anyone’s wishes. A spouse usually has the first right to apply to administer the estate, then a close adult relative. The court normally requires a bond, which adds cost and time.
Can I sell the house before probate is granted?
Obtain the certificate before you enter into an agreement of purchase and sale. Listing a property you have no authority to transfer creates a serious problem if a buyer’s closing date arrives before the court’s decision does.
Does a small estate avoid Estate Administration Tax?
Only where it is worth $50,000 or less. The Small Estate Certificate simplifies the paperwork for estates up to $150,000, but it does not change the tax. People mix the two thresholds up constantly.
If someone has named you as an estate trustee and you are not sure where to start, a short conversation usually clarifies whether the estate needs probate at all. Book a consultation and we can work out what your situation actually requires.
This article is general information about Ontario law and is not legal advice. Estate matters turn on their own facts, and the rules summarised here have exceptions. Figures are current at the date of publication. For advice on a particular estate, speak to a lawyer.
About the author. Rosalie Wannes is an Ontario lawyer practising in Toronto. She advises estate trustees and families on probate applications, estate administration, wills and real estate transactions.
