What to do when someone dies in Canada.

If you are reading this in the first day or two, start with the short list below and ignore everything else. Almost nothing has to happen today. The paperwork will wait, and doing it in the wrong order rarely causes lasting harm.

The first 48 hours

1. 1Get the legal pronouncement of death. In hospital or long-term care, staff handle it. At home, call 911 unless the death was expected and a plan is in place.
2. 2Contact the funeral home or crematorium. They register the death and file the paperwork that produces the death certificate.
3. 3Find the will and any funeral or burial wishes before arrangements are finalized.
4. 4Tell close family and the person's employer. Ask the employer about group life insurance, a final pay period and benefits for a surviving spouse.
5. 5Secure the home, pets, vehicles and anything of value. Redirect the mail once you have authority to do so.
6. 6Do not cancel anything paid automatically until you know what it covers — insurance especially.

The first two weeks

1. 1Locate the original will. A photocopy is often not enough — the court usually wants the signed original.
2. 2Open an estate bank account once you have authority, so estate money never mixes with personal money.
3. 3Make a list of every bank, credit union, insurer, investment account, pension and loan you can find.
4. 4Notify each financial institution and ask what it needs. Some accept a funeral director's proof of death; others require the official certificate.
5. 5Contact the person's employer, professional association and any union about group life insurance and survivor benefits.
6. 6Redirect the mail. Physical mail is still how most Canadians discover accounts nobody knew about.
7. 7Keep paying home and auto insurance. Cancelling coverage on a property that is now sitting empty is the single most expensive early mistake.
8. 8Start a file of receipts. Reasonable estate expenses are reimbursable from the estate.

Who to notify federally

These are the same everywhere in Canada, with one exception: pension death benefits for someone who contributed in Quebec come from Retraite Québec rather than the Canada Pension Plan.

• Service Canada — cancel the Social Insurance Number, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement, and apply for the Canada Pension Plan death benefit, survivor's pension and children's benefit. In Quebec, this is Retraite Québec instead.
• Canada Revenue Agency — report the date of death, stop benefit payments such as the GST/HST credit and Canada Child Benefit, and file the final T1 return.
• Passport Canada — return the passport for cancellation.
• Veterans Affairs Canada, if the person served.
• Any federal pension plan the person contributed to.

The estate process is provincial

What happens next depends on the province. The court authority has a different name in each one — a Certificate of Appointment in Ontario, a Grant of Probate in Alberta and Nova Scotia, a grant under WESA in British Columbia, and a liquidator's process largely handled by notaries in Quebec. Fees, notice periods and required inventories differ too. Choose the province below for the specifics.

Taxes and closing the estate

• A final T1 return is filed for the year of death, and sometimes optional additional returns for certain kinds of income.
• Canada has no estate or inheritance tax, but there is a deemed disposition of capital property at death, which can create a tax bill.
• A clearance certificate from the Canada Revenue Agency — and Revenu Québec in Quebec — confirms taxes are settled. Distributing before it arrives can leave the representative personally responsible.
• Registered accounts and insurance with a named beneficiary usually pass directly and are not part of the estate.

None of this is legal or tax advice. Every estate has its own facts, and a lawyer or accountant in the right province is worth the fee.