What happens to an RESP if the subscriber parent dies before the child starts post-secondary school?

An RESP does not automatically collapse just because the subscriber has died. The plan can keep existing, but someone needs to step into the subscriber's role to keep managing contributions, investment choices, and eventual withdrawals for the child's education. If the subscriber named a successor subscriber, that person typically takes over. If no successor was named, the subscriber's estate trustee can generally act as subscriber while the estate is being administered, or the plan's ownership may need to be dealt with as part of settling the estate.

Because RESPs are creatures of federal tax rules rather than Ontario estate law, the underlying tax-deferred growth and any government grant amounts already in the plan aren't lost simply because the subscriber died. But how smoothly the plan continues depends heavily on the RESP provider's own contract terms and whether the will clearly addresses who takes over. Families sometimes discover, after a death, that the promoter's paperwork and the will don't quite line up, which can slow things down.

If you're a subscriber, check your RESP provider's succession rules now and make sure your will names a successor subscriber, rather than leaving it to be sorted out later.