All guides
Wills, probate fees, intestacy shares, powers of attorney and family property in Canada for 2026: Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec rules, worked examples and official sources.
Costs, Rules and 2026 Checks
- Dividing property on separation in Canada: Ontario equalization, BC family property and Quebec's family patrimony
How Ontario equalization, BC family property, Alberta's Family Property Act and Quebec's family patrimony and parental union divide property.
- Dying without a will in Canada: who inherits in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec
Who inherits without a will in Ontario ($350,000 preferential share), BC ($300,000), Alberta and Quebec, with worked examples by province.
- How to make a valid will in Canada: Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec rules
Formal requirements for a valid will in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec: witnesses, holograph and notarial wills, remote signing and court validation.
- Ontario's 2022 will changes: marriage no longer revokes a will, separated spouses lose out
How Ontario's 1 January 2022 amendments changed wills after marriage and separation, intestacy for separated spouses and court validation.
- Powers of attorney in Canada: Ontario POAs, BC and Alberta documents, and Quebec's protection mandate
How Ontario powers of attorney, BC and Alberta enduring POAs and Quebec protection mandates work, how to sign them and what happens without one.
- Probate fees by province in 2026: Ontario, BC, Alberta, Quebec and the rest
Probate costs in Canada in 2026: Ontario estate administration tax, BC probate fees, Alberta's flat court fees, Quebec notarial wills and other provinces.
- Wills, estates and family law in Canada: costs, documents and the 2026 rules
What wills, probate, powers of attorney and separation cost in Canada in 2026, which documents you need and how Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec differ.
Worked Examples and Checklists
- Child support in Canada: the 2025 Federal Child Support Tables and how to calculate it
How child support is calculated with the Federal Child Support Tables in force since 1 October 2025: special expenses, shared parenting and Quebec's model.
- How to calculate an Ontario equalization payment: net family property step by step
Work out an Ontario equalization payment: valuation date, date-of-marriage deduction, excluded property, the matrimonial home rule and deadlines.
- Estate and separation worked examples: probate, intestacy, tax at death and equalization in numbers
Four illustrative Canadian families worked through: probate cost by province, an intestate estate, RRSP tax at death and an equalization payment.
- Executor checklist for Canada: the first 12 months of settling an estate
An executor and liquidator checklist for Canada: securing assets, probate, final tax returns, claim deadlines, the clearance certificate and distribution.
- Taxes at death in Canada: the final return, deemed disposition, RRSPs, TFSAs and the principal residence
How the CRA taxes a person at death: final return deadlines, deemed disposition, spousal rollovers, RRSPs and RRIFs, TFSAs and the clearance certificate.
- How to calculate Ontario estate administration tax (probate tax) in 2026
Step-by-step Ontario estate administration tax: what is included, rounding to the next $1,000, worked examples and the 180-day Estate Information Return.
- Ontario small estate certificate: estates up to $150,000, costs and how to apply
How Ontario's small estate certificate works for estates of $150,000 or less: costs, how to apply, what happens if assets turn up, and alternatives.
Pitfalls and Official Sources
- Common-law couples in Canada: property, support and inheritance rights by province
What unmarried partners get on separation and death in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec, including Quebec's 2025 parental union regime.
- Challenging a will for support in Canada: Ontario dependants' relief, BC wills variation, Alberta and Quebec
Who can claim support from an estate in Ontario (SLRA Part V), BC (WESA s. 60), Alberta and Quebec, the deadlines and what courts consider.
- Estate and family law mistakes in Canada, and the official sources to check
Common mistakes with wills, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, estates and separation in Canada, and the official sources to check.
- Free and low-cost legal help for wills, estates and family law in Canada
Free legal information and low-cost help for wills, estates, powers of attorney and separation in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec, from legal aid to Éducaloi.
- Holograph and DIY will mistakes in Canada: what invalidates a homemade will
The errors that make homemade and holograph wills fail in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec, how courts treat them and how to sign a DIY will safely.
- Avoiding probate in Canada: joint accounts, beneficiary designations, multiple wills and the risks
How Canadians reduce probate with joint ownership, beneficiary designations, TFSA successor holders and multiple wills, and the risks of each.
- Spousal support in Canada and the separation mistakes that cost money
How spousal support works in Canada, how Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines ranges are calculated, tax treatment and separation mistakes to avoid.