Are the deadlines for an equalization claim and a dependant support claim against an estate the same in Ontario?

They're both six months long, but they don't start running from the same event, which is where people get tripped up. A surviving spouse's Family Law Act election for equalization of net family property must generally be made within six months of the date of death. A dependant support claim under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act, by contrast, generally must be started within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration — not the date of death itself.

Because probate can be applied for weeks or months after someone dies, these two six-month clocks can end up pointing to quite different calendar dates. A spouse considering both an equalization election and a dependant support claim needs to track each deadline separately rather than assuming one date covers both. The Succession Law Reform Act does give a court discretion to allow a late dependant support claim against any part of the estate still undistributed, but that's a discretionary exception, not something to plan around. Given how easy it is to miscalculate which deadline applies to which claim, getting legal advice as soon as possible after a death is the safest course.