Become a Confident Executor in Ontario: Essential Guide for Beginners

If you are stuck or don’t know where to begin as an Ontario estate executor, read this post.

No single roadmap works for every estate journey. Each estate, large or small, has different assets, beneficiaries and tax issues. These variables create their own list of dos and don’ts.

Your Ontario Estate Journey Has Three Phases

Don’t worry about when each phase begins or ends. Phases overlap until you close the estate. I’ll show you how to start and how to close estates.

In the first phase, you protect assets. This can be the most time-consuming phase: you must identify estate assets to protect them. It can also be a very difficult phase, especially if you are grieving. However, you must keep records of all money coming in and going out.

In the second stage, you probate wills. It’s critical to use estate lawyers to handle legal tasks, such as probating wills. Once the will is court-validated, you will receive an Ontario estate certificate. You can use it to collect estate funds and sell assets.

In the third stage, you can pay everyone, including yourself, with consent from capable, residual beneficiaries of age. You identify what assets are to be sold, pay taxes and bills. If you are an estate trustee, executor and residual beneficiary, you may not want to charge a fee. Why? Because executor compensation is taxable income.

In most estates, original wills need to be court-certified. Ontario courts provide you with estate certificates to confirm your authority as estate trustee. You typically complete administering an estate within an “executor’s year”. This is the first year after a person’s death.

You should not close an estate without legal advice.

Check out the steps in your Ontario Executor Year as a glance:

Aim to finish work within one year after the date of death. You’ll sleep better having my big-picture roadmap. I recommend you consult an estate lawyer before you start.

Read my free report, Suddenly You’re an Executor: Start your Executor journey here as an Ontario Executor.

Or, contact me for a meeting to discuss your needs. I look forward to helping you.

As a Certified Specialist, estate law is all I do.