Can an executor use estate money for funeral costs and expenses in Ontario?

Generally yes: a trustee who believes an expense is properly incurred in carrying out the trust may pay it directly from trust property, or pay it personally and recover the same amount from trust property. Whether a particular cost, such as a funeral, qualifies, and how debts are ranked if the estate cannot pay everything, depends on the facts and is worth confirming with a lawyer.

The Superior Court of Justice may later disallow a payment or reimbursement if it finds the expense was not properly incurred in carrying out the trust. Estate trustees must keep accurate records of the assets and transactions in the estate, so keep every receipt and note why each payment was made.

Reimbursing an expense is different from paying yourself for your work. An estate trustee is entitled to a fair and reasonable allowance for care, pains, trouble and time spent on the estate, as allowed by a judge of the Superior Court of Justice. Taking it before accounts are passed is allowed only with the agreement of all interested persons who are sui juris, with court approval, or where the will provides for it.