Filing For Probate Without A Lawyer?
Kevin sat at his mom’s kitchen table with his laptop open, her death certificate beside it, and a will he’s read four times now. A friend told him he doesn’t need a lawyer anymore, because you can apply for probate online. He’d really like that to be true. He also doesn’t want to be the one who gets something wrong with his mom’s estate.
His friend is partly right. Anywhere in Canada, you can apply for probate yourself, without a lawyer. What’s changing is how the application gets to the court, and in Alberta it’s changed a lot this year. But the online application form won’t tell Kevin what needs to be sorted out before he hits “submit”, or how much of the job is still waiting for him after the court says yes.
Where online filing stands
So where can you actually apply for probate online? That depends on where the deceased person lived. Alberta has gone the furthest. Lawyers there have been filing probate applications online since 2022, through a court system called the Surrogate Digital Service. The court tested it with a small group of people applying on their own starting last December, and this past April it opened the service to anyone applying without a lawyer. You have to live in Alberta and have the legal right to apply. You’ll also need a verified Alberta.ca account, a credit card to pay the court fee, and a way to scan your documents into PDFs. A few applications still have to go in on paper, like ones that need a bond or where a grant was already issued.
In Ontario, you can email your probate application to the court instead of mailing it or dropping it off. If the estate is worth $150,000 or less, there’s also a simpler application for what’s called a Small Estate Certificate.
Quebec works differently because of its civil law system. A will made in front of a notary doesn’t need probate at all. A handwritten will, or one signed in front of witnesses, has to be probated, either by a notary or by the court. If you go through the court, you can file the application online, but the portal is only in French.
In most of the other provinces and the territories, you’ll still be filling out paper forms and filing them at the court registry. This is changing at different speeds across the country, so if you looked into it a year ago, it’s worth checking again.
What you’re asking the court for
Whether you upload it to a portal, send it by email or hand it over the counter at the registry, a probate application asks the court for one thing. You’re asking it to confirm that you have the legal authority to deal with the estate. That confirmation goes by different names depending on where the deceased person lived, such as a grant of probate, letters probate or a certificate of appointment of estate trustee. If there’s no will, it’s usually called a grant of administration, or something similar.
Having that document matters. Banks will usually want to see it before they release money that was only in the person’s name, and the land titles office generally needs it before a house can be transferred or sold. But all it really gives you is permission to start settling the estate. Filing online doesn’t take a single step off all the work that comes after you receive the grant of probate.
Lorraine’s grant came quickly. Settling the estate took another year.
Lorraine applied for probate on her father’s estate herself, and she was surprised by how fast the grant came through. She told her brothers she figured she’d have everything wrapped up in a couple of months. Instead, she spent the next year selling his house, filing his final tax return and the T3 filing for the esate, paying off a line of credit nobody in the family knew he had, and waiting on the Canada Revenue Agency providing the clearance certificate before she could make the final distribution. Getting the grant was the first step in settling her father’s estate.
What to sort out before you apply
There are a few things you’ll need to figure out before you apply, whether you’re filing online, by email or on paper.
First, does the estate even need probate? Not every estate does. Property held jointly with right of survivorship, and registered plans or life insurance with a named beneficiary, usually pass directly to the other person, outside the estate. Some banks will also release smaller amounts without a grant. Before you decide to apply, ask each bank and institution what they’ll need from you.
Second, is this the most recent will? You’ll need the original, and you’ll need to do what you can to make sure there isn’t a newer one, such as checking with the person’s lawyer or notary and looking through their papers.
Third, what did the person own and did they owe when they died, and what was everything worth? Most applications ask for this, and in provinces that charge probate fees or tax, that’s how the amount of their probate fee is calculated. If you’re using Ontario’s Small Estate Certificate, it only covers what you list on it. If something turns up later, you’ll have to go back to court to amend it. And if the new total takes the estate over $150,000, you’ll have to start over with the regular application.
Fourth, who needs to be told, and when? Beneficiaries named in the will have to get notice, and in many provinces so do people who might have a claim against the estate, like a spouse or dependent children. The timing isn’t the same everywhere. Some provinces require you to give notice a set number of days before you can file for probate. In Alberta’s online system, the notices go out by email after a court clerk has reviewed the application, and anyone without an email address has to be served some other way. Wherever you are, you’ll need current contact information for everyone entitled to receive notice.
The online system will check that you’ve filled in the right boxes, but it can’t tell you whether what you’ve put in them is complete.
One missed account sent Joel back to the start
Joel applied for a Small Estate Certificate for his mother’s estate in Ontario. He listed her chequing account and her car. Three months later, a statement showed up for an RRSP she’d opened decades ago, with no beneficiary named. Once it was added to everything else, the estate was over $150,000. His certificate couldn’t be amended to include it, so he had to file the regular application for a certificate of appointment of estate trustee and start the process all over again.
If you’ve been named executor, the Executor’s Compass™ Suite helps you work through the whole job, from the first days through to closing the estate. It provides a step-by-step guide with jurisdiction-specific terminology and context, a timeline that maps out what’s coming up and flags what’s overdue, and a spreadsheet for keeping track of everything the person owned and owed, along with the beneficiaries and what each one has received. Learn more about the Executor’s Compass™ Suite.
The work after the court says yes
Once you have the grant, most of the job is still in front of you. You’ll gather up and look after the estate’s assets, which can mean selling a house, closing bank accounts and moving investments. You’ll deal with creditors and pay the debts. You’ll file the final income tax return for the person who died, and often tax returns for the estate itself. Before you hand everything out, you should get a clearance certificate from the Canada Revenue Agency. It isn’t mandatory, but if you distribute the estate without one and it turns out tax is owed, you can be held personally liable for it. You’ll also need to prepare a full accounting for the beneficiaries, showing everything that came into the estate, everything that was paid out and the fees you’re claiming as executor. The beneficiaries usually need to approve it, and they’re often asked to sign a release, before you make the final distribution. If someone doesn’t agree with the accounting, it can end up in front of a court, which is why keeping careful records from day one matters so much.
Depending on where the deceased person lived, there may be more paperwork after the grant too. In Ontario, for example, the estate trustee has to file an Estate Information Return with the Ministry of Finance within 180 days of getting the certificate.
This is also where a lot of executors find they need professional help, even if they handled the probate application themselves. A tax question, a beneficiary who doesn’t agree with a value, or a debt that shows up late can turn a manageable estate into a complicated one pretty quickly.
What changes depending on where you live
The names, forms, fees and timelines all depend on the province or territory where the deceased person lived. Alberta’s online service, for instance, is only open to people applying on their own if they live in Alberta, so an executor who lives somewhere else would need to file on paper or work with an Alberta lawyer. Probate fees range from nothing at all in some provinces to a modest capped amount in others to a percentage of the estate’s value in the rest. And in Quebec, a notarial will doesn’t need probate at all.
Before you apply, these are good questions to ask a lawyer, or a notary in Quebec, in the province or territory where the deceased person lived:
- Does this estate need probate, and which assets does it need to cover?
- If I apply on my own, how do I file, and is there an online or email option?
- Who has to get notice, and do I have to wait a certain amount of time after giving notice before I can file?
- How are probate cost here, and when do the fees have to be paid?
- What returns or paperwork will I need to file after the grant comes through, and when are they due?
The filing options, thresholds and rules in this article are current as of publication and can change. Please check them with a professional in the province or territory where the deceased person lived before you rely on them.
Back at the kitchen table
If Kevin’s mom lived in Alberta and he lives there too, he may well be able to file her application right there at her kitchen table. But I’d want him to know before he starts that the probate application form will be the easiest part of the whole job. Everything after it comes down to his judgment, his records and his patience. A little help early on costs a lot less than sorting out a mistake a year from now.
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Disclaimer: This content is for general information only and is not legal, financial, medical, or tax advice.
