The Ontario probate wait, and the bills that will not wait with it
The fee is the part people look up first. Ontario charges nothing on the first $50,000 of an estate and 1.5% on everything above it, so a $500,000 estate owes $6,750 and a $1,000,000 estate owes $14,250. It is a real number, and it is not the number that keeps a family awake.
What does is the calendar. Probate in Ontario runs for months, and until the certificate of appointment arrives the estate is largely untouchable: accounts stay closed, title cannot move, and the executor holds authority on paper with nothing to spend. The funeral home, meanwhile, expects to be paid in days. The two timelines do not line up, and something has to bridge the difference.
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.
The bills that arrive first
A funeral or cremation is usually invoiced within a week or two of the service. Property taxes, utilities, insurance on a house nobody is living in and the mortgage all keep running. Where a spouse depended on the income that has stopped, the household's own bills carry on regardless. None of it waits for a court file to be processed.
The probate tax joins that same queue. It is payable when the application goes in, not when the estate is wound up, so a family is asked for $6,750 on a $500,000 estate at the precise moment none of the estate's money is available to them. The Estate Information Return then comes due within 180 days of the certificate being issued, which keeps an executor occupied well after the urgent invoices are settled.
What being frozen actually means
A bank will normally stop honouring anything on a sole account once it learns of a death. Investment accounts are held. A house cannot be sold or refinanced without the certificate. Some institutions will pay a funeral invoice directly, or advance a limited amount for urgent costs, but that is a courtesy that varies from one place to the next rather than a right, and it should never be the whole plan.
Accounts held jointly with right of survivorship are the exception, because they already belong to the survivor. That is why joint accounts look like the obvious answer, and also why they are not a complete one. Joint ownership gives the other person real rights in the money today, puts it within reach of their creditors, and can leave someone holding a larger share than you ever meant to give.
Money that does not wait for the court
A policy that names a living beneficiary pays that person, not the estate. The proceeds are excluded from the probated value, no Ontario tax is charged on them, and they do not need the certificate to be released. Claims are typically settled within weeks of the paperwork going in, which is the difference between a family covering the funeral from a payout and covering it on a credit card.
An RRSP, a RRIF or a TFSA with a living beneficiary on it moves the same way in most provinces, to the person named rather than into the queue. That is the practical case for carrying coverage through retirement, and for reading the beneficiary line instead of assuming it is still right. A designation naming a former spouse continues to govern. A designation naming the estate pulls the proceeds back into the probated value and back into the wait. Ten minutes with the policy and the plan statements answers both questions, and an estate lawyer can confirm anything that looks unclear.
Frequently asked questions
How soon can my family reach the money?
For anything passing under the will, generally not until the certificate of appointment is issued, and that usually takes months. Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary is the exception and normally arrives within weeks. Planning around that gap tends to matter more to a family than shaving the fee.
Can the funeral be paid before probate is granted?
Often yes, in a limited way, because some institutions will settle a funeral invoice directly from the deceased's account as a courtesy. It is not guaranteed and it rarely stretches beyond the funeral itself. Insurance proceeds or a jointly held account are the more dependable answers.
Does the Ontario tax come out of the inheritance or out of our pockets?
The estate carries it in the end, but it has to be paid when the application is filed, before the estate's accounts are accessible. In practice the executor or a family member fronts the money and is reimbursed once the estate can pay, so keeping clear records of what was advanced matters.
Is this the same as income tax on the estate?
No. The estate administration tax is a one-time charge based on the value of what passes under the will. A final income tax return for the person who died is a separate obligation with its own deadlines and its own arithmetic, and an accountant or estate lawyer should confirm what applies.
Will $50,000 always escape the fee?
Under the current schedule the first $50,000 is not taxed, which is worth $750 to every estate above that size. Ontario is free to change the schedule, so treat the figure as a starting point and confirm the rate with the court or an estate lawyer when it matters.
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