What happens in Ontario if someone dies with no will and no relatives?
If someone dies in Ontario without a will and has no spouse or relatives who can inherit, the property goes to the Crown. Before that point, though, the law looks a long way through the family tree, so having no close family is not the same as having no heirs.
With no spouse, issue (children, grandchildren and later descendants), parents, brothers or sisters, the estate goes equally to nieces and nephews, without representation, so the children of a deceased niece or nephew do not take that person's share. After that, it goes equally to the next of kin of equal degree, also without representation. Degrees are counted up from the deceased to the nearest common ancestor and then down to the relative, and half-blood relatives inherit equally with whole-blood relatives of the same degree.
Only if no heir exists does the property vest in the Crown, and the Public Guardian and Trustee may take possession of it. A person who later proves a legal claim to the Public Guardian and Trustee's satisfaction is entitled to receive it. Whether the Public Guardian and Trustee can also act as estate trustee depends on the facts.
Key takeaways
- The Public Guardian and Trustee can apply as estate trustee of last resort only if all of these apply: the deceased lived in Ontario or owned Ontario real estate, there was no will or the executor has died or become incapable, there are no known next-of-kin living in Ontario or the next-of-kin are minors or mentally incapable adults, and the estate meets its financial criteria after the funeral and debts are paid.
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, grant escheated intestate property to a person with a moral claim on the deceased, and this is a government order rather than a Public Guardian and Trustee decision.
- A common-law partner has no intestate share, but one who has lived with the deceased continuously for at least three years, or is in a relationship of some permanence and is a parent of a child with them, may apply to court as a dependant for support, generally within six months of the grant of letters probate or letters of administration, though the court may allow a late application for any part of the estate still undistributed.
- The Public Guardian and Trustee's financial criteria are not published as figures, and its phone numbers differ between Ontario pages, so confirm details before relying on them.