The parts of a British Columbia estate that never reach the courthouse
There are two versions of a British Columbia estate. One is the version the court sees: the assets your executor needs permission to deal with, listed and valued and charged a fee. The other is the version that goes straight to the people you named, with no court file, no fee and none of the waiting.
The fee on the first version is real enough. Nothing on a gross estate of $25,000 or less, a $200 filing fee above that, $6 per $1,000 up to $50,000 and $14 per $1,000 beyond it, which comes to $6,650 on a $500,000 estate. The second version costs nothing, and it is often the part that actually pays for the funeral.
Probate Fee Calculator
Probate fees are charged on the value of the estate that passes through the will. Assets with a named beneficiary — life insurance, and in most provinces registered plans — pass outside the estate and are not counted.
Fee schedules are current published rates and change from time to time; confirm with the provincial court or an estate lawyer before relying on a figure. Quebec charges no probate fee for a notarial will. Manitoba abolished probate fees in 2020.
Named, and therefore not counted
Life insurance is the clearest example. Name a living person as beneficiary and the insurer owes that person directly. The money is not an asset of the estate, so it is left out of the value the British Columbia fee is worked out on, and your executor does not need the grant of probate to have it released. An RRSP, a RRIF or a TFSA with a beneficiary named on it generally behaves the same way.
The arithmetic is simple enough to do at the kitchen table. Because the top band is $14 per $1,000, every $100,000 that passes by designation rather than under the will keeps $1,400 out of the fee, at any estate size above $50,000. The bigger gain is that the same $100,000 is not sitting in a queue behind a court registry.
The survivorship route, and its price
A home or an account held jointly with right of survivorship also passes outside the estate. The surviving owner simply carries on owning it, which is why so many couples hold property this way and why it works well between two people who already share everything.
Extended to an adult child, the same arrangement changes character. They own an interest from the day you sign, so you cannot sell or borrow against the asset alone, their creditors and any separation can reach it, and what they end up with may not match the shares your will sets out. The fee saved is $14 per $1,000. Whether that is worth the trade is a conversation for a lawyer who knows your family, not a decision to make from a fee table.
Weeks against months
A grant of probate in British Columbia is normally measured in months, and banks, investment firms and the land title office will generally not move until it has been issued. For that whole stretch your will's instructions exist without any means of carrying them out, while funeral invoices, property costs and ordinary household bills keep arriving.
A claim on a policy paid to a named beneficiary usually settles within weeks, because there is nothing to wait for. That is the real reason life and final expense coverage still belong in an estate plan that is otherwise tidy: not to dodge a $6,650 fee, but so the people you leave behind have money in their hands during the months before anything else can be released. Schedules and timelines both change, and an estate lawyer can confirm what applies now.
Frequently asked questions
Does life insurance get counted in the BC fee?
Not where the policy names a living beneficiary. The payout belongs to that person from the moment of death, so it never enters the estate and no British Columbia probate fee is charged on it. Naming the estate as beneficiary reverses that and pulls the money into the calculation.
How much does each $100,000 kept outside the estate save?
It saves $1,400 once the estate is above $50,000, because the top band is $14 per $1,000, and the figure is the same whether the estate is $300,000 or $3,000,000. Fee schedules do change, so confirm the current bands with the court registry or an estate lawyer.
Should we put the house in joint names with our children?
It would keep the house out of the estate, and it would also give the children a present ownership interest, with everything that follows: exposure to their creditors, a say in any sale, and possible unintended gifting. That is a legal and tax decision to make with a lawyer, not a fee-saving move.
What if no beneficiary is named on a policy or plan?
The proceeds generally fall into the estate, are included in the probated value, and wait for the grant along with everything else. Blank or outdated designations are common after a divorce, a remarriage or a plan transfer, which is why they are worth reading through every few years.
Do beneficiaries pay tax on the payout?
A life insurance death benefit paid to a named beneficiary in Canada is generally received free of income tax, which is a separate question from the probate fee. Other assets, registered plans in particular, can still create tax for the estate, so ask an accountant or estate lawyer what applies to yours.
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