Who looks After My Estate?

For Estates under the Indian Act, the Minister of ISC:

• must be notified that the person died
• must approve the Will if there is one
• appoints an Executor or Administrator
• If there is a Will that names an Executor, they will be appointed.
• If there is no Will or it does not name an Executor, the Minister looks for someone who will inherit from the deceased and who is willing to be the Administrator.

The person appointed will get a document that confirms their appointment. The Administrator or the Executor will need to show this at places like banks to prove they have the right to deal with the Estate.

Some decisions of the Minister of ISC about Wills can be appealed to court. Decisions that can be appealed include:

• declaring a Will or part of it void
• appointing an Executor or Administrator
• removing an Executor or Administrator

These decisions must be appealed within two months of the decision.

Executors and Administrators have certain duties including:

• taking charge of the Estate
• arranging and paying for the funeral from Estate funds
• looking after the Estate by keeping it safe, including making sure there is insurance if needed
• cancelling services that are no longer needed, like a cell phone plan, internet or streaming service like Netflix
• notifying people or agencies like the person’s employer, landlord and bank
• notifying any agency or person the deceased was receiving payments from, such as Service Canada for Old Age Security or the Canada Pension Plan
• applying for the Canada Pension Death Benefit if the person is eligible for it

Before the Executor or Administrator can distribute an Estate, they need to use the Estate funds to pay for:

• funeral expenses
• any taxes owing
• any debts

Some of the Estate may need to be sold to pay these debts. Because there might not be enough money to pay all debts there is an order they must be paid in.

Any income tax the deceased owes must be paid first before anything except funeral expenses. The Executor or Administrator may need to file a tax return for the deceased. 

They will need to get a clearance certificate from the Canada Revenue Agency before they distribute any of the Estate. This shows that no taxes are owing. Without it they could find out later that taxes are owing. Then, if there was no money left in the Estate, they would need to pay the taxes.

After funeral expenses and taxes, any debts the person owes must be paid from the Estate. The Executor or Administrator pays debts from what is in the Estate. If there is not enough, they are not responsible for any extra amount owing.

Because they may not know what debts the person has, they can post notices in newspapers, post offices nearby and the First Nation office. After this, creditors have 8 weeks to make a claim. Once this time has passed, the Executor or Administrator can go ahead and distribute the Estate.