Northwest Territories
What to do when someone dies in the Northwest Territories: a step-by-step checklist
A Northwest Territories checklist for the first days after a death: registering the death, ordering certificates, applying for probate in the Supreme Court of the NWT, and territorial notifications.
- Called
- executor
- Court authority
- Grant of Probate
- Death registered with
- NWT Vital Statistics
Estates in the Northwest Territories are administered under the Estate Administration Act, with grants issued by the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories in Yellowknife. The person named in a will is the executor; otherwise the court appoints an administrator.
Registering the death in the NWT
The death is registered with NWT Vital Statistics in Inuvik. Certificates are ordered from that office. Where a death occurs in a small community, the coroner and the health centre are usually involved before a funeral provider is, and transportation can extend the timeline.
Probate in the Northwest Territories
- The application is filed with the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.
- Court fees are modest and set by the tariff rather than as a percentage of the estate.
- An inventory of the estate's assets and debts is filed with the application.
- Land is transferred through the NWT Land Titles Office.
NWT-specific notifications
- NWT Health Care Plan — cancel the territorial health card.
- Department of Infrastructure, Motor Vehicles — driver's licence, registration and plates.
- NWT Land Titles, where real property is held.
- Income Assistance or Senior Home Heating Subsidy, if received.
- Indigenous government or land claim organization offices, where beneficiary status or settlement land is involved.
Steps that are the same everywhere in Canada
- 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.
- 2Contact the funeral home or crematorium. They register the death and file the paperwork that produces the death certificate.
- 3Find the will and any funeral or burial wishes before arrangements are finalized.
- 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.
- 5Secure the home, pets, vehicles and anything of value. Redirect the mail once you have authority to do so.
- 6Do not cancel anything paid automatically until you know what it covers — insurance especially.
Federal notifications
- 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.
General information about public processes in Northwest Territories, not legal or tax advice. Confirm current requirements with the province or a lawyer.
Everything above starts with finding information.
A Life Box holds the documents, accounts, policies, property and people your executor would otherwise have to go looking for — organized while you're here, released only after authority is verified.