Who Inherits a Jointly Owned House or Bank Account When There Is No Will in Ontario?

It depends on how the property is held. Whether a jointly owned house or bank account is part of the estate depends on how the title or the account was set up, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer how this applies to your situation.

Anything that does fall into the estate of someone who died without a will is distributed under the Succession Law Reform Act. The people who can inherit are the spouse and closest next-of-kin. A spouse means a person married to the deceased, so a common-law spouse does not inherit under those rules. If there is a spouse and no children or other descendants, the spouse takes the whole estate.

If there are children and the net value is more than the preferential share, the spouse first takes that share, which is $350,000 for deaths on or after March 1, 2021, and $200,000 for earlier deaths. The preferential share is measured against the estate's net value, after debts and expenses, so which assets fall into the estate can change who receives what. Ask a lawyer how each asset is held.