If you've just learned that your parent or partner passed away without a will, take a breath. You're not in trouble, and you haven't done anything wrong. A surprising number of families are in exactly your position. Roughly half of Canadian adults have no will at all. It simply means there are a few extra steps, and an order to do them in.
Settling an estate without a will in Ontario follows a clear legal path called intestacy. The province's rules decide who inherits, and the court appoints someone, usually a close family member, to manage everything. It takes a little longer than it would with a will, but it is a well-worn process, and thousands of Ontario families walk it every year.
This guide explains, in plain language, who inherits when there's no will, who can step in to settle the estate, how to get the legal authority to act, and what that role actually involves day to day. We'll also cover the one task that usually can't wait for the courts: arranging your loved one's cremation or funeral.
No will? What settling an estate in Ontario actually means
When someone passes away without a valid will, the law calls it dying "intestate." Instead of the deceased's written wishes guiding things, Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act sets out who inherits, and a court appoints a person to administer the estate. That person is called an estate trustee, the Ontario term for what many people still call an executor.
Here's the distinction worth knowing. An executor is someone named in a will. When there's no will, no one has been named, so the court appoints an estate trustee without a will to do the same job. The responsibilities are nearly identical; the difference is that the authority comes from the court rather than from a document.
One more thing that brings real relief to a lot of families: not everything has to pass through the estate. Assets that are jointly owned or that name a beneficiary usually go straight to that person, will or no will. That typically includes:
- Bank accounts and homes held in joint tenancy (these pass to the surviving co-owner)
- Life insurance with a named beneficiary
- RRSPs, RRIFs, and TFSAs with a named beneficiary
- Pension survivor benefits
What's left, the assets in the deceased's name alone, is the estate that the intestacy rules govern. Sorting which is which is one of the first useful things you can do. (Joint accounts cause the most confusion here; our guide to accessing a joint bank account after a death in Ontario explains what a surviving co-owner can and can't do.)
Who inherits when there's no will in Ontario?
When there's no will, the decision about who inherits rests with Ontario law, not the family. Inheritance follows a fixed order based on the closest surviving relatives: a legally married spouse comes first, then children, then parents, then siblings, and outward from there.
The table below shows how an estate is divided in the most common situations. (The figures reflect the $350,000 preferential share for spouses, which Ontario increased from $200,000 effective March 1, 2021. It's worth confirming the current amount, as these figures do change.)
| Family situation | Who inherits |
|---|---|
| Spouse, no children | The spouse inherits the entire estate |
| Spouse and one child | Spouse receives the first $350,000, then the remainder is split equally between spouse and child |
| Spouse and two or more children | Spouse receives the first $350,000, then one-third of the remainder; the children share the other two-thirds equally |
| Children, no spouse | Divided equally among the children |
| No spouse or children | Goes to the parents; if none, then siblings; then nieces and nephews; then next of kin |
| No surviving relatives | The estate passes to the Government of Ontario |
A few points trip families up, so they're worth saying plainly.
Does a common-law partner inherit without a will?
No. And this is the hardest surprise in Ontario's intestacy rules. Under the Succession Law Reform Act, only a legally married spouse inherits automatically. A common-law partner, no matter how many years you lived together, does not inherit anything by default when there's no will.
A surviving common-law partner can still make a claim, for example as a financial dependant, or for an equalization of family property. But these are separate legal steps with their own deadlines, and they usually need a lawyer. If this is your situation, speak to an estates lawyer early; some claims must be started within six months of the death.
What about children?
Biological and legally adopted children inherit equally, including children born outside of marriage. Stepchildren who were never adopted do not inherit under the intestacy rules. If a child has already passed away, their share generally flows down to their own children (the deceased's grandchildren).
Who can settle an estate without a will in Ontario?
The right to settle the estate follows roughly the same order as the right to inherit. A married spouse has first priority to apply, followed by the children, then other next of kin. The court will not simply hand the role to whoever volunteers first. There's an order of preference, and people with an equal or higher claim may need to formally step aside.
There's one requirement that catches out-of-town families off guard: an estate trustee without a will generally must live in Ontario. If the closest relative lives in another province or country, the court will usually require either a co-applicant who resides in Ontario or a bond to protect the estate. If you're managing your parent's affairs from afar, this is an early question for a lawyer, because it shapes who should apply. Our guide to managing a parent's death from another province covers the rest of what changes when you're coordinating from out of town.
If more than one person has an equal right to apply (say, three adult siblings), the others can sign a document consenting to one of them taking the role, or formally renouncing their own right. Sorting this out among the family before the application goes in saves a great deal of friction later.
How to apply to become estate trustee without a will
To get the legal authority to act, you apply to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will. That's what most people mean when they say "probate." The certificate is what banks, the land registry, and other institutions ask to see before they'll release the deceased's assets to you.
Here's the path, step by step:
- Confirm there's truly no will. Search the home, safety deposit box, and the deceased's lawyer's office. The court will ask you to swear that you made reasonable efforts and believe no will exists.
- Confirm who has the right to apply and obtain consents from anyone with an equal or greater claim.
- Prepare the court application, including a sworn statement of the estate's value (its assets and debts).
- Notify everyone entitled to share in the estate. Each beneficiary must be served with a copy of the application. Special rules apply if a beneficiary is a minor or unable to manage their own affairs.
- Arrange an estate administration bond if required. Because there's no will naming a trusted person, the court may require a bond (a kind of insurance) to protect the estate. Courts can waive it, often where the sole applicant is also the only beneficiary, but expect to address it.
- File the application and pay the Estate Administration Tax (more on that below).
- Receive the certificate, which gives you the authority to collect, manage, and distribute the estate.
The court paperwork is detailed, and an intestate application has more moving parts than one with a will. Many families handle straightforward estates themselves. Others hire an estates lawyer, which commonly runs a few thousand dollars depending on complexity. There's no wrong choice here. It depends on the size of the estate and how comfortable you feel with the forms.
What is the Estate Administration Tax (probate fees)?
Ontario charges an Estate Administration Tax based on the total value of the estate, paid when you apply for the certificate. There is no tax on the first $50,000, and roughly $15 for every $1,000 above that (about 1.5%). On a $400,000 estate, for example, that works out to roughly $5,250.
For smaller estates valued at $150,000 or less, Ontario offers a simpler, lower-cost route called a Small Estate Certificate, with a more streamlined application. And if no certificate is needed at all, sometimes the case when everything passed outside the estate through joint ownership or named beneficiaries, no Estate Administration Tax is due. The official details are on the Government of Ontario's guide to administering estates.
What the estate trustee actually has to do
Becoming the estate trustee is the start, not the finish. The role is essentially to gather everything the person owned, settle what they owed, and pass on what's left to the right people. It helps to see the whole list in one place:
- Arrange the cremation or funeral. This is almost always the first task, and it usually happens before the certificate is issued.
- Locate and secure the assets, bank accounts, property, vehicles, investments, personal belongings.
- Notify the government and other institutions of the death, and cancel benefits, pensions, health cards, and the like.
- Apply for any benefits the estate is entitled to, such as the CPP death benefit.
- Pay the debts, funeral costs, and taxes owed by the estate.
- File the deceased's final tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency.
- Distribute what remains according to Ontario's intestacy rules.
A practical tip before you begin: order several copies of the death certificate early, because almost every step above asks for one. Our guide to death certificates in Ontario explains how to request them and how many you're likely to need.
Two of these tasks have dedicated guides worth bookmarking. For the long list of agencies to contact, our walkthrough on how to notify the government after a death in Ontario lays out who needs to know and in what order. And because funeral costs are usually the first bill to land, families often wonder who's responsible for paying them before the estate is settled. Our guide to who pays for funeral costs in Ontario covers exactly that, including reimbursement from the estate.
One reassurance: legitimate funeral and burial expenses are paid out of the estate before anyone inherits, and they rank ahead of most other debts. If you pay out of pocket in the early days, keep the receipts; the estate reimburses you. The federal CPP death benefit can also help cover some of those first costs.
How long does settling an estate without a will take?
Most intestate estates in Ontario take about 8 to 12 months to settle, sometimes longer if there's property to sell, taxes to sort out, or beneficiaries to locate. There's a common-law expectation called the "executor's year", the idea that an estate should generally be wrapped up within a year, but it isn't a hard deadline, and there's no penalty for taking reasonable time on a complex estate.
What tends to add time without a will is the front end: confirming who's entitled, serving every beneficiary, arranging a bond, and waiting for the court to issue the certificate. Once you have the certificate in hand, the gathering, paying, and distributing tends to move more predictably.
If beneficiaries are anxious about timing, and they often are, especially when money is tight, the kindest thing you can do is communicate. A short note explaining where things stand and what's next prevents most of the friction that surfaces in estates. You're allowed to take the time the law gives you to do this carefully.
How Cleo helps in the first days
Here's the part that genuinely can't wait for paperwork: caring for the person who passed away. You don't need a will, a certificate, or court approval to arrange a cremation. As the family member stepping up, you can put that in motion right away, and doing so often takes the heaviest weight off the first few days.
This is where Cleo fits. We handle direct cremation across Ontario for one fixed, all-inclusive price, transportation, the cremation, the paperwork, and return of the ashes, with no hidden fees and a quote that matches the final bill. For someone who's also trying to track down bank accounts and court forms, knowing the cremation cost is settled and predictable is one less thing to manage. You can see a full breakdown in our guide to cremation cost in Ontario.
We also work often with families coordinating from another province, the same out-of-town relatives who often end up as estate trustee. The entire arrangement can be handled by phone, start to finish, so the logistics are moving before you can even get there.
If you're not sure what to handle first, our broader guide on what to do when someone dies in Ontario walks through the immediate days in order.
Where to begin
Settling an estate without a will can feel like a lot, because it is, layered on top of grief. But it follows a clear order: confirm what passes through the estate, learn who inherits under the law, apply to the court to become estate trustee, then gather, pay, and distribute. Tens of thousands of Ontario families have done exactly this, and you can too.
This guide explains how the process works in general, but it isn't legal advice. Every estate is a little different, and questions about common-law claims, out-of-province trustees, or larger estates are worth a conversation with an Ontario estates lawyer. You don't have to get every detail perfect on your own.
And for the one piece you can act on right now, caring for your loved one, we're here 24/7. If you'd like to talk through cremation, with no pressure and a price you can count on, give us a call any time.
(438) 817-1770