Jul 18, 2025
After months of waiting, you’ve finally received your Certificate of Appointment from the Court, and you can now manage the estate, pay debts, bring in the assets, file taxes, and distribute funds.
But what do you do if you don’t know the full value of the estate and the Estate Information Return (EIR) deadline is 180 days away and fast approaching?
As an estate trustee, you have the responsibility to determine the assets of the estate and confirm the values as of the Date of Death, and it can often be a long and difficult process to obtain the information you need from a financial institution.
If you are not aware of the assets, you can consider using a service like Estatesearch or hire a lawyer to do a deep dive and uncover any accounts.
Here are a few tips and steps you should take to obtain the information you need:
1. Hire a Lawyer: In many ways it is valuable to have a lawyer assisting and advising you on the estate administration process and to reach out to the different financial institutions on your behalf. There is a cost associated with this work, so take this into consideration.
2. Prepare notarized copies of the following documents (notaries, lawyers, and paralegals can provide this service):
- Will (if obtaining prior to issuance of your Certificate of Appointment)
- Death Certificate
- Issued Certificate of Appointment
3. Provide a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID to the bank.
4. Walk into the bank branch and provide them with the notarized documents and inquire about how you can obtain statements showing balances as of the date of death. Some estate departments of banks require the branch staff to verify the physical copies of the documents and your ID in person before speaking to the Estate Trustee on the phone or via email.
5. If applicable: Call the bank and inquire about how to submit the documents needed to gain access to the statements. Some will accept clear, scanned emailed, mailed or faxed-in copies and others require you to attend in person.
6. If applicable: Mail or fax the above documents to the relevant estate department along with your request for the balance of the account and statements as of the date of death.
7. Follow-up and keep good records. On that first conversation with the bank, ask for a reference number, and phone number or email address so that you can follow up on the status of your request. Once you receive the requested information, save it and make note of the documents and values received for when you need to report to the court and on your Estate Information Return.
Olesya Johnson
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
Jun 18, 2025
I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay
Ain’t it sad?
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
That’s too bad…
My colleague Rebecca Suggitt previously blogged about the importance of keeping proper accounts as an attorney or guardian of property. One of the reasons she gave was that a guardian or attorney’s compensation is tied directly to the receipts and disbursements person under guardianship or attorneyship (who will be referred to as the “incapable person”).
Generally, the rule that applies to a guardian or attorney’s compensation is a charge of 3% on all receipts and disbursements in the guardianship or attorneyship accounts, per the regulations under the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992. (For simplicity, I will use the term “fiduciary” to mean “guardian” or “attorney” for the remainder of this blog, but be aware that “fiduciary” is a broader term that is not limited to guardians or attorneys.)
The broad purpose of this 3% charge is to compensate fiduciaries for the work they do to manage the incapable person’s assets, such as paying their bills, purchasing necessities and personal items, and collecting and managing money from their sources of income.
However, like many legal principles, there are exceptions to this general rule. There are certain receipts and disbursements that the 3% charge should not be applied to. Below are a few commonly seen non-compensable transactions:
Transfers Between Accounts
People often own more than one bank or investment account. The fiduciary may need to move money from the savings to chequing account to pay the incapable person’s monthly bills, or decide to invest the excess funds in chequing account by moving it into an investment vehicle. These transfers will appear in the accounting as a disbursement (when the money leaves the original account) and a corresponding receipt (when the money is deposited into the second account). But, because the money is not leaving the guardianship/attorneyship to pay a third party, nor is new money coming in, these are not compensable transactions. They should be recorded in the accounting bookkeeping or “memo” transactions only.
Refunds
The accounts will reflect refunds, for instance, when items are returned to a store and a credit is issued back to the incapable person. The refunded money will appear in the accounting as a receipt. Since these receipts are not deposits of new money or income, they are not compensable transactions.
Capital Losses
Capital losses occur when an asset is sold for less than its adjusted cost base. The fiduciary may need to liquidate stocks, investments, or other assets because the incapable person needs cash to pay for their expenses. Capital losses appear in the accounting as disbursements. However, they are not true disbursements because no money leaves the guardianship or attorneyship to pay for a good or service. As such, they are non-compensable.
Compensation Paid to the Fiduciary
Fiduciaries are permitted to pay themselves compensation on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, pursuant to the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992. If so, the accounts will reflect compensation payments to the fiduciary throughout the period of accounting. As it would be duplicative for the fiduciary to pay themselves for paying themselves, these transactions are non-compensable.
How to Reflect Non-Compensable Transactions in the Calculation for Compensation
The value of these identified non-compensable transactions should be deducted from the value of total receipts and disbursements during the accounting period. After making all deductions, apply the 3% to the net receipts and disbursements to calculate the compensation.
Zara Wong
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
May 29, 2025
When it comes to scheduling a date with the courts and subsequently serving and filing materials, you must first consult your region’s Practice Directions. These handy guides provide detailed steps to ensure your date is secured and your materials are provided to opposing counsel and your presiding Judge.
The Superior Court of Justice is divided into eight different regions, each with their own Practice Direction:
- Central East: Barrie/Bracebridge, Newmarket, Oshawa, and Peterborough/Cobourg/Lindsay,
- Central South: Hamilton, Kitchener, St. Catherines, Welland, Brantford, Simcoe, and Cayuga
- Central West: Brampton, Orangeville, Guelph, Milton, and Owen Sound/Walkerton,
- East: Ottawa, Kingston, Belleville, Brockville, Cornwall, L’Orignal, Napanee, Pembroke, Perth, and Picton
- Northeast: Sudbury, Cochrane/Timmins, Gore Bay, Haileybury, North Bay, Parry Sound, and Sault Ste. Marie
- Northwest: Thunder Bay, Kenora, and Fort Frances
- Southwest: Chatham/Kent, Goderich/Huron, London/Middlesex, Sarnia/Lambton, St. Thomas/Elgin, Stratford/ Perth, Windsor/Essex, and Woodstock/Oxford
- Toronto: This region of the Superior Court of Justice includes the Estates List, Civil List, and Family List. Importantly, each of these lists have their own practice direction.
Practice Directions provide an up-to-date overview of the court’s scheduling, filing and administrative procedures. Importantly, these directions are separated by the subject of the matter, such as civil law, family law, and criminal law.
While each court will have varying directions, there are some consistencies across the regions, such as:
If you find that a region’s Practice Direction does not adequately address your questions, you can do the following:
- Consult the consolidated Provincial Practice Directions
- Contact the court’s administration and ask them to clarify their scheduling and filing procedures
- Review the Rules of Civil Procedure
*(When in doubt, it is always best practice to review the Rules. They govern the entire Superior Court of Justice and are the basis of all region’s court procedures.)
Remember to always read the most recent iteration of a region’s Practice Directions and Notices to the Profession. These guides are often amended to reflect updates to court’s scheduling and filing procedures.
Hannah Henley
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
May 15, 2025
Many people in the midst of planning their estate consider adding an adult child as a joint owner on a bank account as a straightforward way to avoid probate taxes and to ensure what they expect will be a smooth transfer of funds after death. In fact, many clients tell us that their deceased parent received explicit advice from their bank that adding an adult child as a joint account holder is an appropriate probate planning strategy. However, relying on joint accounts to transfer inheritance to your children can carry legal complexities that are misunderstood and can lead to unintended consequences.
Under Ontario law, naming an adult child as a joint account holder does not automatically mean that the child becomes the rightful owner of the funds upon the parent’s death. Unless there is clear evidence that the parent intended to gift the funds outright to their child, the law applies what is known as the presumption of resulting trust. This is a legal principle that when a parent transfers property to an adult child without receiving value in return, it is presumed the child is holding the property in trust for the parent’s estate, not as a personal gift. In practical terms, unless the child can prove that the parent intended a true gift, the funds in the account may be treated as part of the estate and are subject to probate.
Disputes typically arise when one child is added as a joint account holder and, after the parent’s death, claims the funds as their own. Other beneficiaries may object, arguing that the account was intended for estate purposes or convenience only. The presumption is that the funds were being held in trust for the estate. Meaning, without clear, contemporaneous evidence of a gift, these cases will often result in lengthy and costly litigation.
These disputes can delay estate administration, trigger court applications, and lead to fractured family relationships. Legal costs pursuing litigation can erode the very funds the joint account arrangement was intended to preserve.
When assessing whether the funds in a joint account are held in resulting trust, courts will consider factors such as: who deposited the funds; how the account was used; whether the deceased retained control; and any written or verbal statements made about the account. Where the evidence is unclear or contradictory, the surviving joint account holder often faces an uphill battle to prove a gift was intended.
Joint accounts can be an appropriate estate planning tool, but they should be used with care and proper documentation. What appears to be a simple banking decision can have far-reaching legal consequences.
Cara Zacks
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
May 12, 2025
In today’s financial and legal world, wire transfers are a routine part of many transactions – whether it’s settlements, estate distributions, or real estate transactions. With the growing convenience of wire transfers, it is important to stay alert and informed about cybercrime and to take the necessary steps to protect your funds throughout the process.
Wire fraud usually happens when criminals impersonate a trusted person or organization, typically through email or other electronic means, to trick people into transferring funds to an unauthorized recipient. These scams often take the form of phishing emails that appear to come from someone to you know, like a lawyer or team member, asking about changes to bank details or requesting urgent action unexpectedly on a wire payment. As these scams become more sophisticated, it’s important to stay alert and carefully review any financial emails. Even if they seem convincing, taking a moment to verify can help protect you.
While cybercrime is a growing concern in many fields, there is good news: with the right systems, precautions, and habits in place, we can minimize the risks!
Steps We Take to Protect Your Transactions
Our firm takes a proactive stance on cybersecurity and fraud prevention. Below are key steps we take to help protect your transactions:
Verifying Wire Instructions
We will call you to confirm your wire details using a phone number we know and trust. We encourage you to do the same. If anything seems unusual, please contact us immediately.
Ongoing Education and Policies
Our staff and IT have regular discussions on best practices for cybersecurity and fraud prevention strategies. Additionally, we have internal policies in place to ensure we consistently take an active approach to keep your transactions running smoothly and securely.
Account Oversight and Monitoring
All transactions are carefully reviewed, and only authorized members can initiate or approve wire transfers. We also monitor accounts daily to identify any suspicious activity.
How You Can Help Protect Your Transactions
Here are a few simple recommendations to protect yourself:
- Be mindful of unexpected emails: If an email about a transaction feels unusually urgent or unexpected, take a moment to call us and confirm, and always double-check the sender’s information.
- Avoid clicking on unfamiliar links: If you are ever unsure about an email with a link, please reach out for confirmation.
- Take your time: Slow down and read through all emails carefully – especially ones that seem out of the ordinary.
- Use strong passwords: Protect your email account with a strong, unique password. If possible, activate two-factor authentication to provide additional security.
While cybercrime is an unfortunate reality of our modern age, taking thoughtful precautions and maintaining clear communication can make a meaningful difference in keeping your information and transactions safe. Casey & Moss is committed to protecting your interests every step of the way!
Emilia Szczepkowski
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
