Applying for probate in BC is a court filing with a fixed sequence of notice, forms and fees

Do you need probate in BC?

You need probate in BC when an institution holding the deceased's assets won't release or transfer them without a grant. That almost always includes land in the deceased's sole name or held as a tenant in common, and usually larger bank and investment accounts. Property held jointly, or with a named beneficiary, normally passes without one.

Work it out asset by asset. List what the deceased owned and how each item was held; the asset section of the wills and estates page shows how. For each asset in the deceased's own name, ask the institution what it needs. Each bank sets its own limit on what it will release against a death certificate and an indemnity. The Land Title Office won't register sole-name land to an executor without a grant.

Once any asset needs a grant, the application has to disclose every asset passing through the estate, and the fee is assessed on all of them, not only the one that forced the application.

How do you apply for probate in BC, step by step?

To apply for probate in BC, order a wills search from the Vital Statistics Agency, deliver a notice of proposed application to everyone entitled, wait out the notice period, then file the submission for estate grant, the affidavits and the asset statement at a Supreme Court registry. The registry reviews them, assesses the fee and issues the grant.

The wills search shows whether a wills notice was filed and where the will was recorded as kept. The registry wants the certificate even if the search finds nothing. The original will and any codicils go in with the application; a copy can only be used after a separate court application.

Notice goes to each beneficiary under the will, anyone who would inherit if there were no will, the spouse and children who could claim to vary the will, and any named executor who is not applying. Where a beneficiary is a minor or an adult who can't manage their affairs, notice also goes to the Public Guardian and Trustee and to the person responsible for them.

Before the grant, the applicant can use an authorization to obtain estate information, a Part 25 document that lets institutions disclose what the deceased held with them. That makes the asset statement possible to complete.

Once the notice period has run, the package can be filed at any Supreme Court registry in BC, Surrey included. Court Services Online accepts some estate filings electronically, but the original will still has to reach the registry. If the staff find a gap or inconsistency, the application comes back with a list of what to fix.

What forms do you need for a BC probate application?

A BC probate application under Part 25 uses numbered P-forms: the notice of proposed application (P1), the submission for estate grant (P2), the applicant's affidavit for the type of grant sought, the affidavit of delivery proving notice (P9), and the affidavit of assets and liabilities (P10, or P11 where the deceased lived outside BC).

In the order they are usually prepared:

• P1, notice of proposed application: prepared and delivered first, with a copy of the will. The notice period runs from delivery.
• P9, affidavit of delivery: sworn by whoever delivered the notices, saying who received them, when and how.
• Applicant's affidavit: the version depends on the grant, whether probate or administration with or without a will. It confirms the applicant's identity, relationship to the deceased and right to apply.
• P10 or P11, affidavit of assets and liabilities: lists everything passing through the estate at date-of-death values, with the liabilities. P11 is for someone who lived outside BC and covers only property in the province.
• P2, submission for estate grant: the cover document listing what is filed and the grant sought, assembled last with the wills search certificate and the original will.

How are probate fees calculated in BC?

BC probate fees are set by the Probate Fee Act and worked out from the affidavit of assets and liabilities. The fee is based on the gross value of the estate passing through the grant, less charges registered against BC land; other debts aren't deducted. Estates below a set value pay nothing, and above it the fee rises with value.

For someone who lived in BC, the value includes land and physical property in the province plus financial assets such as bank accounts and shares, including those held outside BC. Land outside the province is left out. For someone who lived elsewhere, only property in BC counts. Property passing outside the estate, such as joint tenancy assets and designated plans, is not included.

A mortgage or other charge registered on the title of BC land reduces that land's value for the fee. Credit card balances, income tax owing and other unregistered debts don't, though the estate still has to pay them. All values are taken at the date of death.

The fee is paid to the registry before the grant issues. The BC government publishes the current threshold and rates; they are not repeated here because they change.

What is the difference between a grant of probate and a grant of administration?

A grant of probate goes to an executor named in a will. A grant of administration goes to someone the court appoints instead: with will annexed, when there is a will but no named executor can or will act, or without a will, when the deceased left none. Each grant has its own applicant's affidavit and its own priority rules.

• Grant of probate: the will names an executor who is alive, willing and able. That executor applies, and the grant confirms the authority the will gave them.
• Administration with will annexed: there is a valid will, but every named executor has died, renounced or can't act. A beneficiary or other eligible person applies in WESA's order of priority and administers the estate on the will's terms.
• Administration without a will: the deceased left no valid will. WESA ranks who may apply, beginning with the spouse, and the estate passes under the intestacy rules.
• Resealing: a grant from another Canadian province, or from certain Commonwealth countries, can be resealed by the BC court so it takes effect here without a fresh application.
• Ancillary grant: where the deceased lived somewhere whose grants BC can't reseal, a BC grant is applied for to cover the property in BC.

Why do probate applications get delayed or sent back?

BC probate applications are most often sent back over the documents: notice given to the wrong people or filed too early, names that don't match across the will and affidavits, a missing wills search, gaps in the asset statement, or a will with handwritten changes or doubts about its signing. Each return means another round of registry review.

Probate timing is easier to describe in stages than in weeks: gathering information, the notice period, the registry's review, and any back and forth. The registry's processing time changes through the year and between registries. Returns are the part an applicant can control. The usual causes:

• Notice: someone entitled to it was missed, a minor's notice didn't reach the Public Guardian and Trustee, or the package was filed before the notice period ended.
• Names: the deceased's name differs between the will, the death certificate and the affidavits, and the difference isn't explained.
• The will: alterations, missing pages, signs the pages were separated, or no evidence of a proper signing where that is in doubt.
• Assets: values missing, jointly held property listed as estate property, or a land value with nothing to support it.
• Executors: a named executor who isn't applying has neither renounced nor had the right to apply reserved.
• Disputes: a notice of dispute filed by someone challenging the will stops the grant until it lapses or is removed; the wills variation page explains how that works.

Can you sell a house in an estate before probate is granted?

Generally not, if the house was in the deceased's sole name or held as a tenant in common. The executor must first register a transmission at the Land Title Office, which needs the grant, so no sale can complete before then. A house held in joint tenancy is different: the survivor takes title with a death certificate.

The executor can prepare in the meantime: get the property valued, keep it maintained, and talk to a realtor. A contract signed before the grant has to allow for the time the grant takes, usually with a completion date tied to it. Once the grant issues, the transmission and the buyer's transfer can be registered together. To move the home to a beneficiary instead of selling it, see the title transfers page.