Nova Scotia
What to do when someone dies in Nova Scotia: a step-by-step checklist
A Nova Scotia checklist for the first days after a death: registering the death, the Probate Court process, probate fees, and the notifications specific to the province.
- Called
- personal representative
- Court authority
- Grant of Probate
- Death registered with
- Nova Scotia Vital Statistics
Nova Scotia has a dedicated Probate Court, and its process is set out in the Probate Act and its regulations. The person administering the estate is the personal representative — the executor named in a will, or an administrator appointed where there is none.
Registering the death in Nova Scotia
The funeral home files the medical certificate of death and the registration of death with Nova Scotia Vital Statistics. Death certificates are ordered from Access Nova Scotia. Order several copies at once; ordering them one at a time adds weeks across a dozen institutions.
The Probate Court process
- The application is filed in the Probate Court for the county where the deceased lived.
- Nova Scotia probate fees are set on a sliding scale by the value of the estate, with a percentage applied above the top bracket.
- An inventory of the estate is filed, and a final accounting is generally required before the estate closes.
- Property transfers are registered through the province's land registration system.
Nova Scotia-specific notifications
- MSI — Nova Scotia's health card.
- Access Nova Scotia / Registry of Motor Vehicles — driver's licence, vehicle registration and plates.
- Nova Scotia Property Online and the Land Registration Office, where real property is held.
- Employment Support and Income Assistance, if received.
- Nova Scotia Power, municipal tax accounts and any private well or septic service contracts on rural property.
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 Nova Scotia, 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 personal representative would otherwise have to go looking for — organized while you're here, released only after authority is verified.