Can a beneficiary apply to court to remove one of two deadlocked co-executors in Ontario?

Yes, a beneficiary can apply to the Superior Court to remove one of two deadlocked co-executors, though removal is treated as a significant step rather than a routine fix for disagreement between trustees. The beneficiary generally needs to show the deadlock is actually harming the estate — assets sitting idle, bills going unpaid, decisions stalled indefinitely — rather than simply that the two trustees don't get along.

Courts weigh removal carefully because it interferes with the testator's choice of who should administer their estate. A judge will look at how serious and persistent the deadlock is, whether one trustee is the one genuinely causing the problem, and whether a less drastic option — like an application for directions on the specific disputed point, or appointing a neutral third trustee to help move things along — could resolve things without removing anyone.

Because these applications require solid evidence of the deadlock's impact and the specific conduct at issue, beneficiaries considering this route should keep a clear record of the stalled decisions, the requests made, and the responses, or lack of them, before filing, and get legal advice on whether removal or a lesser remedy is the better fit.