Executor checklist for Canada: what you'll need and where to start

An executor needs two different things, and confusing them is what makes the job overwhelming. The first is information: what exists, where it is, who to call and what the numbers are. The second is authority: the legal standing to act on the estate, which comes from the will and, in most cases, from the court. This checklist keeps them apart, because the information half is the half a family can prepare in advance — and almost never does.

Part one: the information your executor needs

None of this is legal. All of it is a phone call, a login or a filing cabinet away for the person who owned it, and a small investigation for anyone else. This is the list to work through, whether you are an executor now or preparing for someone else to be one later.

People and professionals

• The executor named in the will, and the alternate.
• The lawyer or notary who drafted the will, and where the signed original is kept.
• The accountant who files the tax returns, and the last several years of returns and notices of assessment.
• The financial adviser, investment firm and insurance broker.
• Beneficiaries, with correct legal names, dates of birth and current contact details.
• Anyone holding a key, a code, signing authority, or property belonging to the estate.

Documents

• The will — the signed original, not a scan, and confirmation there is no later one.
• Any codicil, and in British Columbia the wills notice filed with Vital Statistics.
• Powers of attorney and personal directives — these end at death, but matter enormously before it.
• Birth, marriage, separation and divorce documentation, plus any separation agreement or court order affecting the estate.
• Proof of death from the funeral home, and multiple copies of the provincial death certificate.
• Social Insurance Number, provincial health card, passport, driver's licence and citizenship or immigration documents.
• Property deeds, land titles, mortgage documents and vehicle ownerships.
• Pre-arranged funeral or cemetery contracts.

Money

• Every financial institution: chequing, savings, term deposits and safety deposit boxes, with account numbers.
• Registered accounts — RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, RESP, RDSP — with the named beneficiary or successor holder on each.
• Non-registered investments, employer pensions, and any locked-in accounts from former employers.
• CPP and OAS status, and whether a survivor is eligible for anything.
• Debts: mortgage, lines of credit, credit cards, loans, tax owing.
• Recurring payments still leaving the account, and anything still coming in.

Insurance

• Life insurance policies with insurer, policy number and named beneficiary. Policies with a named beneficiary generally pay that person directly, outside the estate.
• Group life or accidental death coverage through an employer, union, professional association or credit card — the most commonly missed category of all.
• Home, auto, travel and any coverage attached to a mortgage.

Property and the practical facts

• The home: title, mortgage lender and renewal date, property tax account, utilities, alarm codes.
• A second property, cottage, land or storage unit — and who has been maintaining it.
• Vehicles, boats and trailers, with ownership and insurance.
• Items on loan, in repair, in storage, or belonging to somebody else.
• Pets, and who has agreed to take them.

Digital life

• The primary email account — nearly every other account recovers through it.
• Devices and how they unlock, cloud storage, and where the photographs actually live.
• Subscriptions and recurring charges, which quietly continue for years.
• Domains, small business accounts, loyalty programs and any cryptocurrency.
• Whether a password manager exists, and whether it has an emergency access feature already configured.

Part two: the legal duties, which vary by province

Life Box is not a law firm and none of the following is legal advice. In broad terms, and with real variation across the country, an executor is generally expected to locate and prove the will, secure the assets, obtain the court's confirmation of their authority where required, notify creditors, inventory and value the estate as at the date of death, pay debts and taxes, obtain a clearance certificate from the CRA before distributing, and account to the beneficiaries.

The terminology alone changes as you cross provincial lines, which is why generic checklists mislead:

Quebec is a civil law jurisdiction and works differently in kind, not just in name: the liquidator, the will registers of the Chambre des notaires and the Barreau, and the fact that a notarial will takes effect without probate. Treat any general Canadian guide with suspicion in Quebec, including this one.

Whether a particular estate needs probate at all, what it will cost, and what an executor may be personally liable for are questions for a lawyer or notary in the relevant province. Our provincial guides walk through the practical steps and name the official body for each.

The federal notifications

Service Canada handles CPP and OAS, including the CPP death benefit, the survivor's pension and the children's benefit. The CRA needs the final return, may need returns for prior years, and issues the clearance certificate that protects an executor from distributing too early. Both will ask for the death certificate, the will, proof the executor is the executor, and the Social Insurance Number. Our guide to what Service Canada and the CRA ask for goes through the documents one at a time.

If you are preparing rather than administering

Work backwards from part one. Every line in it is a question your executor will otherwise have to answer by investigation, at the worst possible time. The single most useful thing you can do is not write a better will — it is write down where everything is and keep that record current.