Can a Beneficiary Be Left Out of an Estate Notice or Passing of Accounts in Ontario?

A beneficiary should not be cut off from the estate, but the law does not make an executor pass accounts on a schedule. No Ontario law requires an estate trustee to pass accounts at fixed intervals, and they need not do so unless the court compels it at the request of a person with an interest, such as a beneficiary or creditor.

When accounts are passed, the estate trustee starts the application under rule 74.18(1), and the judge may make a full inquiry into the whole estate and look into complaints of misconduct, neglect or default. The creditor-notice protection in the Trustee Act does not apply to beneficiaries claiming as such, so it cannot be used to cut off a missing beneficiary.

On a final passing, money belonging to a minor, a mentally incapable person, or a person whose address is unknown must be paid into court, unless the Public Guardian and Trustee is guardian of property for the person entitled, in which case it goes there instead. If you have heard nothing, a written request to the executor for information is a sensible first step. Whether you were entitled to notice of a particular step, and how to object, depends on the facts and is worth confirming with a lawyer.