Nunavut
What to do when someone dies in Nunavut: a step-by-step checklist
A Nunavut checklist for the first days after a death: registering the death, ordering certificates, applying for probate in the Nunavut Court of Justice, and territorial notifications.
- Called
- executor
- Court authority
- Grant of Probate
- Death registered with
- Nunavut Vital Statistics
Nunavut estates are administered under territorial legislation carried forward from the Northwest Territories, with grants issued by the Nunavut Court of Justice — a single-level trial court that hears estate matters along with everything else.
Registering the death in Nunavut
The death is registered with Nunavut Vital Statistics in Rankin Inlet. Certificates are ordered from that office, and in most communities the health centre and the RCMP or coroner are involved first. Mail and travel add real time to every step, so start requests early.
Probate in Nunavut
- The application is filed with the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.
- Court fees follow a tariff rather than a percentage of estate value.
- An inventory of assets and debts accompanies the application.
- Most land in Nunavut is Crown or Inuit Owned Land; privately titled land is comparatively rare and handled through the land titles office.
Nunavut-specific notifications
- Nunavut Health Care Plan — cancel the territorial health card.
- Motor Vehicles Division — driver's licence, registration and plates.
- Income Assistance and Senior Citizen Supplementary Benefit, if received.
- Nunavut Housing Corporation or the local housing organization, where the home is public housing.
- The regional Inuit association and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, where enrolment or beneficiary entitlements are 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 Nunavut, 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.