Next Steps to Take After the Death

When a loved one dies, there are several things to take care of in addition to making the funeral arrangements. Other matters to look after include safeguarding the property the deceased left behind, notifying organizations of the death, and inquiring about survivor benefits.

Dealing with the property left behind

If the deceased left a will, the executor named in the will is responsible for settling the estate of the deceased. Settling the estate involves locating the property owned by the deceased, paying any debts, the funeral costs and taxes, and then distributing the estate according to the instructions in the will. If the loved one died without a will, a person must apply to court for permission to settle the estate.

The People’s Law School publication Being an Executor covers the steps involved in British Columbia in dealing with an estate after a person dies.

Locating the will

Locating the will, if the deceased left one, clarifies who has been named executor. The will may also have instructions about the deceased’s wishes for organ donation, burial or cremation, and their funeral service.

The will may be in the deceased’s home, in a safety deposit box, or at the office of the lawyer or notary public who drafted the will.

To check on the location of the will, you can search the Wills Registry maintained by the Vital Statistics Agency. If the deceased filed a notice of their will with the registry, the search will indicate the location of the original will.

Safeguarding the deceased’s property

The executor named in the will is responsible for protecting the assets until the estate is ready to be distributed. If an executor is not involved, those close to the deceased can help protect the assets.

For example:

• If the deceased’s home is not occupied, make sure the home is secured, appliances turned off, and any pets are looked after. If the home is to remain vacant, tell the police.
• Make sure any vehicle owned by the deceased is locked in a safe place.
• Safeguard any wallet, purse or briefcase owned by the deceased.
• Secure the deceased’s key pieces of identification, such as their social insurance card, medical card, driver’s licence, and passport.

Property that passes directly on death

Not all things owned by the deceased form part of the estate. Certain types of assets “pass outside the will.”

For example, property owned jointly by the deceased and someone else automatically becomes the exclusive property of the other joint owner. If you had a joint bank account with the deceased, you can withdraw the whole amount from the account at any time. If you encounter difficulties, speak to the bank manager. Once you have the death certificate, you can have the account transferred to your name alone.

Who to notify of the death

You should contact organizations and government departments to notify them of the death or cancel services. For example:

• notify financial institutions where the deceased held accounts
• cancel any credit cards
• cancel any subscriptions or club memberships
• cancel any Old Age Security or Canada
• Pension Plan benefits received by the deceased
• cancel the deceased’s passport and driver’s licence

Usually the executor or administrator of the estate will also send a change of address to Canada Post so that mail intended for the deceased goes to a safe location while they are dealing with the deceased’s estate.

Survivor’s pensions and benefits

If the deceased contributed to a government or private pension, their spouse and dependents may be entitled to a survivor’s pension or a death benefit. For example:

• Canada Pension Plan (CPP) survivor’s pension: If the deceased contributed to the CPP, a survivor’s pension is paid to their surviving spouse or common-law partner. The survivor is responsible for applying for their monthly pension.
• CPP children’s benefits: If the deceased made sufficient contributions to the CPP, a children’s benefit is paid to any surviving child under age 18 or between ages 18 and 25 if in full-time attendance at school. The child or their parent or guardian are responsible for applying for this monthly benefit.
• CPP death benefit: The CPP death benefit is a one-time, lump-sum payment paid to the estate or a survivor of a deceased CPP contributor. If an executor or administrator is involved, they should apply for the death benefit on behalf of the estate.

With public and private pensions, the estate or the survivor is entitled to keep any cheques issued in the month the deceased passed away.

If the death was the result of a work incident, a car accident, or a crime, benefits may be available to assist the survivors:

• 'Workers’ compensation benefits:' If the death was the result of a work incident, benefits may be available as workers’ compensation through WorkSafeBC at [1].
• 'ICBC benefits': If the death was due to a car accident, benefits are available from ICBC at www.icbc.com. Regardless of who was responsible for the accident, certain funeral expenses and survivor benefits are payable.
• Victims of crime assistance: If the death was a result of a crime, assistance may be available to survivors from the Crime Victim Assistance Program. Call 1-866-660-3888 or contact cvap@gov.bc.ca.

Seeking bereavement support

Grieving is an important process that requires more time than people often acknowledge or allow. Support during time of bereavement can help bring healing, renewal, and hope for the future.

Family and friends can be a great source of comfort. Expressing your feelings with them can help you in the grieving process.

The BC Bereavement Helpline is a free and confidential service that helps people in BC cope with grief. See the “Where to Get Help” section for contact information.

Updating your own legal affairs

If you have lost your partner, you may need financial advice or help reorganizing your banking arrangements.

In time, you may wish to review your own will and any other personal planning arrangements such as a power of attorney, advance directive, or representation agreement. See the People’s Law School publication Power of Attorney as well as the website Clicklaw at www.clicklaw.bc.ca.

Legally, only the executor appointed under the will or administrator appointed by the court has the right to deal with the assets and property of the person who has died. An executor must get a grant of probate of the will from the court to confirm his or her authority.

If your family member died without a will, a person seeking to be appointed as administrator must apply to the court for a grant of administration before he or she has the authority to deal with the assets.

If you are the executor or the person seeking to be the administrator, excellent information is available about what you need to do:

• People’s Law School booklets "Being an Executor", "Power of Attorney", and "Writing Your Will."
• Nidus Personal Planning Resource Centre and Registry website at www.nidus.ca.
• Self-Counsel Press publication [2].

First steps

If you cannot find the person's will, you can check with his or her notary public or lawyer. You can also do a wills search through Vital Statistics or your local government agent. Fee for service applies and is subject to change.

You need the following information to perform a wills search:

• date and place of death,
• date and place of birth,
• full legal name and all alias names, and
• occupation, if not retired.

If an executor is not involved or if you are the executor, you may want to secure the assets. Make sure the following valuables are safe:

• will or copies of the will,
• wallet, purse or briefcase,
• social insurance card, medical card, driver’s licence, etc.,
• credit cards, bank statements,
• utilities statements,
• life or property insurance policies, and
• income tax papers.

You also may need to do the following: Make sure the deceased’s motor vehicle is locked in a safe place. Retain the keys and any valuable contents to hand over the executor. Retain access to the deceased’s residence to take care of pets, make sure appliances are off.

Usually the executor or administrator will send a change of address to Canada Post so that the deceased’s mail goes to the executor’s address while he or she is dealing with the person’s estate. It is the responsibility of the executor or administrator to notify institutions and cancel credit cards, club memberships, magazine subscriptions, etc.

Note: This booklet is not intended to explain the process for obtaining a grant of probate or an appointment of an administrator or the process for the distribution of the deceased’s assets.

What do I need to know about benefits for survivors?

The following is a general overview about benefits for survivors. Many of the tasks involved will be completed by the executor or administrator.

If you had a joint account with right of survivorship, you can withdraw the whole amount from the account at any time. If you encounter difficulties, speak to the bank manager. Once you have the death certificate, you can have the account transferred to your name alone.

If the accounts were in the deceased’s name alone, notify the bank. Banks may release small amounts of money to the survivor before the estate is settled, but they are not required to do so. They will pay funeral expenses directly if presented with the bill. They will not reimburse a person who has paid the funeral home directly until the estate is settled.

Money left to the designated beneficiary in insurance policies, pension funds, and RRSPs passes outside the will. If you are the designated beneficiary, contact the relevant institutions to learn what documents they need.

If your spouse was receiving a government or private pension, you may be entitled to a portion of the pension as the surviving spouse. Check with each agency.

If your deceased family member was a veteran, member of a union, or receiving a pension from another country, there may be pension benefits for survivors. For pensions, the estate or the survivor is entitled to keep the cheques issued in the month of your deceased family member’s death. Note: This applies to you if you are a dependent child of a parent who has died.

If the family member paid into the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), the death benefit is payable to the estate or survivor. CPP survivor benefits may be payable if the deceased is your spouse and you are under 60 or if you are a surviving child under 18 years of age or between the ages of 18 and 25 if attending school full-time.

If the deceased was still employed, benefits may be available. Death benefits payable by labour unions vary. They may be payable to the next-of-kin or the estate. The union office will have the information.

If the death was work-related, benefits may be available as workers’ compensation through WorkSafeBC.

If the death was due to a car accident, benefits are available from ICBC. Also, the deceased’s family members may bring a legal action for compensation if the accident were the fault of another.

If the death was a result of a crime, assistance and benefits may be available to survivors from the Crime Victim Assistance Program.

What do I need to know about re-arranging my own legal affairs?

In time, you may wish to change your will if the death of your deceased family member means your old will is out of date.

It may be appropriate to review your arrangements for future planning, and consider such tools as a power of attorney, enduring power of attorney, advance directive, or representation agreement. See Clicklaw for further information, under the common questions "When might I need a power of attorney?" and "Should I have an enduring power of attorney or a representation agreement?."

If you have lost your partner, you may need financial advice or help with reorganizing your banking arrangements. Talk to your bank or credit union.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by People's Law School, 2012.

A Death in Your Family © People's Law School is, except for the images, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

Something which can be owned. See "chattels" and "real property."

The person responsible for carrying out the instructions in a will and wrapping up a deceased person's estate and debts. The lovely feminine form of the word is "executrix," though the masculine form is commonly applied to executrices and executors both. See "estate," "testator," and "will."

In law, all of the personal property and real property that a person owns or in which they have an interest, usually in connection with the prospect or event of the person's death.

In law, a calculation of the allowable legal expenses of a party to a court proceeding, as determined by the Supreme Court Family Rules. The party who is most successful in a court proceeding is usually awarded their "costs" of the proceeding. See "account," "bill of costs," "Certificate of Costs or Expenses" and "lawyer's fees."

In law, the directions given by a client to their lawyer about either the conduct of their affairs or a court proceeding.

In law, to formally deliver documents to a person in a manner that complies with the rules of court. Service may be ordinary (mailed or delivered to a litigant's address for service), personal (hand-delivered to a person), or substituted (performed in a way other than the rules normally require). See "address for delivery," "ordinary service," "personal service" and "substituted service."

A person licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction by that jurisdiction's law society. See "barrister and solicitor."

A person authorized to administer affirmations and oaths, and to execute or certify documents. All lawyers are notaries public in addition to being barristers and solicitors. See "barrister and solicitor.”

(1) A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched, and reviewed, or (2) a courthouse.

In law, (1) a lawyer's bill to their client or a statement, or (2) a person's recollection of events.

In family law, a legal document in which a person gives up a right or a claim, or the entitlement to enforce a right or advance a claim; a waiver. Releases are usually signed following the settlement of a court proceeding or legal dispute. See "action" and "claim."

Under the Divorce Act, either of two people who are married to one another, whether of the same or opposite genders. Under the Family Law Act, spouse includes married spouses, unmarried parties who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, and, for all purposes of the act other than the division of property or debt, unmarried parties who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together. See "marriage" and "marriage-like relationship."

In law, (1) a piece of draft legislation presented to the legislature for its approval,or (2) a lawyer's statement of account for services rendered to their client. See "account," "act," and "lawyer's fees."

Under the Family Law Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a guardian of a child, including a parent who is not a guardian, has with that child. Under the Divorce Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a married spouse has with a child. See "guardian" and "parental responsibilities."

In family law, the natural or adoptive father or mother of a child; may also include stepparents, depending on the circumstances and the applicable legislation; may include the donors of eggs or sperm and surrogate mothers, depending on the circumstances and the terms of any assisted reproduction agreement. See "adoptive parent," "assisted reproduction," "natural parent" and "stepparent."

In law, the re-examination of a term of an order or agreement, usually to determine whether the term remains fair and appropriate in light of the circumstances prevailing at the time of the review. In family law, particularly the review of an order or agreement provided for the payment of spousal support. See "de novo," "family law agreements," "order" and "spousal support."

In family law, this usually refers to one party obtaining a part of any property at issue before the property has been finally divided by court order or the parties' agreement, usually in order to help pay for that person's legal fees.

In contract law, a promise made by someone about a certain state of affairs, like "the plumbing was replaced last year" or "I had a vasectomy two years ago." See "misrepresentation."

The process of checking the validity of a will, distributing a dead person’s estate, and settling their debts according to the instructions set out in that person's will. See "estate" and "will."

A name by which people know you other than your legal name, such as Vanilla Ice if your legal name is Robert Matthew Van Winkle. Aliases are not illegal in British Columbia.

A bank account owned by more than one person, normally with an equal entitlement to deposit or withdraw, with or without the consent of the other account holders.

(1) A person for whom a trustee holds a trust, or (2) the recipient or intended recipient of property given in a will. See "heir" and "trust."

In law, an order of a court cancelling or changing an earlier order of the court. See "order."

A court proceeding in which one party sues another for a specific remedy or relief, also called a "lawsuit" or a "case." An action for divorce, for example, is a court proceeding in which the claimant sues the respondent for the relief of a divorce order.