- Financial institutions report investment income annually, covering the full calendar year.
- To request or review slips and other tax information on behalf of a deceased person, an executor generally needs to be recognized by CRA as the legal representative of the estate.
- A joint account or a plan with a named beneficiary (like an RRSP, TFSA, or life insurance policy) generally passes outside the estate.
Months after a death, envelopes from banks and investment firms keep arriving addressed to someone who has passed away. Those T3 and T5 slips aren't a mistake — they're a normal part of closing out a deceased person's financial affairs, and executors need to know what to do with them. This guide walks through how tax slips after death typically work and how an executor gets access to them.
Why Slips Keep Arriving After Death
Financial institutions report investment income annually, covering the full calendar year. If someone dies partway through the year, the income their investments earned still needs to be reported — split, where relevant, between the period before death and the period after. That means slips can arrive:
- In the deceased's name, covering income earned up to the date of death (used for the terminal return);
- In the estate's name, covering income the same assets earned after death but before they were transferred or distributed (used for the estate's T3 return); or
- In a beneficiary's name, if an asset (like a jointly held account or a named-beneficiary plan) passed directly to them and started earning income in their own hands.
Because slips can take time to be issued, and financial institutions don't always update their records immediately, executors are often still receiving slips well after the death occurred.
Getting Access to a Deceased Person's Tax Information
To request or review slips and other tax information on behalf of a deceased person, an executor generally needs to be recognized by CRA as the legal representative of the estate. This typically involves:
- Notifying CRA of the death and providing the required documentation (such as a death certificate and proof of appointment as executor or estate trustee).
- Registering as the estate's legal representative through CRA's processes for representing a deceased person, which allows the executor to access the deceased's tax records and correspond with CRA on the estate's behalf.
- Notifying individual financial institutions, employers, and pension providers directly, so future slips are issued correctly — some to the deceased for the pre-death period, some to the estate afterward.
Skipping this step often leads to slips being delayed, misdirected, or issued in a way that doesn't match how the underlying income should actually be reported.
What to Do With Each Type of Slip
| Slip situation | What it's generally used for |
|---|---|
| T3/T5 issued in the deceased's name, income earned pre-death | Reported on the deceased's terminal return |
| T3 issued in the estate's name, income earned post-death | Reported on the estate's own T3 trust return |
| T3 slip issued by the estate to a beneficiary | Reported on that beneficiary's personal return, for income the estate allocated or paid out to them |
| Slip covering a jointly held account or named-beneficiary asset | Depends on who beneficially owned the asset and when — may belong to the survivor, not the estate; see the note below |
A joint account or a plan with a named beneficiary (like an RRSP, TFSA, or life insurance policy) generally passes outside the estate. Income it earns can end up reported by the surviving joint owner or beneficiary directly, rather than by the estate — this is a separate question from how estate-owned assets are handled, and it depends on the specific ownership facts.
A Practical Checklist for Executors
- [ ] Obtain multiple copies of the death certificate — institutions typically require their own copy or a certified copy.
- [ ] Register with CRA as the estate's legal representative before requesting tax information.
- [ ] Contact every bank, brokerage, and pension provider individually — CRA registration doesn't automatically update every institution's own records.
- [ ] Keep a running log of every account and asset, noting whether it belongs to the estate or passed directly to a survivor or named beneficiary.
- [ ] Hold off on final distributions until you're reasonably confident all expected slips have arrived — a slip that surfaces after the estate has been distributed can create real complications.
- [ ] File both the terminal return and any required T3 estate return, using the slips that correspond to each.
Frequently asked questions
What if a slip arrives after I've already filed the terminal return?
It can often be addressed with an adjustment to the filed return, rather than requiring an entirely new filing — but timing and the size of the amount involved can matter. Raise it promptly with whoever is preparing the estate's taxes.
Do I need a separate CRA account for the estate?
Generally, yes — the estate is treated as its own taxpayer, distinct from the deceased personally, and CRA correspondence and any T3 filings are handled under the estate's own tax profile once you're registered as its legal representative.
Can I just wait until every slip has arrived before filing anything?
Not indefinitely — the terminal return and any estate returns still have their own filing deadlines, and slips can trickle in over an extended period. Executors generally need to balance completeness against filing on time, and can amend a return later if something was missed.
What happens if I distribute the estate before all the tax slips and obligations are settled?
An executor who distributes estate assets before resolving the estate's tax position — including obtaining a CRA clearance certificate — risks becoming personally liable if unpaid taxes later surface and there isn't enough left in the estate to cover them.
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