How to Pass Accounts in Alberta Court of King's Bench

As a personal representative, you may be ready to finish the estate and need the court to approve your accounts. The process has set forms and notice periods, and mistakes can slow things down.

This article walks through the steps in Alberta: preparing the statements, choosing informal or formal passing, giving notice, and the hearing. It is general information, and forms should be checked against the current versions before use.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

Step 1: Prepare the financial statements

Everything starts with the statements. They must include an inventory at the beginning and end of the period, statements of receipts and distributions noting capital or income, expenses, a reconciliation, a distribution schedule and a proposed compensation schedule. Capital and income must be kept separate where the will or trust requires it.

Back them up with proof of ownership, such as bank or dealer letters and statements, and for land a current certified copy of the certificate of title. Your ledger and receipts should be able to show the safe-deposit contents, date-of-death values, payment of debts and expenses, and tax filings and payments.

Step 2: Consider releases

You may ask residuary beneficiaries to sign a release in Form ACC 12, confirming they are satisfied with the accounting, compensation and proposed distribution. Releases need not be filed, and they do not cancel a bond. Form numbers should be confirmed on the Government of Alberta forms page, since some forms may still refer to older form series.

Step 3: Choose informal or formal passing

For an informal passing, you apply to dispense with a formal passing by filing Forms ACC 10 and ACC 11 and the financial statements, and serving copies on interested persons who have not given releases. A beneficiary who signed a release need not be served. The application may proceed without notice to others if no objection is filed or all residuary beneficiaries have released, but the court must still be satisfied with the documentation.

For a formal passing, you file Forms ACC 1 and ACC 2, the financial statements and any Form ACC 3 objection, and serve copies on interested persons who have not given releases. The notice of hearing attached to Form ACC 1 must be served one month or more before the hearing.

Any interested person may object to an informal passing with Form ACC 3, which leads to a hearing under the formal rules.

Step 4: Respond to objections and prepare for the hearing

• An objector must file Form ACC 3 and serve it 10 days or more before the hearing, with particulars and each objected entry identified by number.
• A person who does not file an objection may speak only with the court's permission, and is deemed to consent if they neither appear nor object.
• The court may order a professional accounting firm to examine the entries, and you and anyone holding estate records must make them available.

If a beneficiary starts the process instead, you must reply in Form ACC 8 at least 10 days before the hearing. If you object, you file an affidavit in Form ACC 9 at least 10 days before the hearing.

What happens at the hearing, and what to do next

At the hearing the court may pass the accounts, vary or amend the statements, set your compensation and give directions about it, decide disputes summarily, direct payment of debts, and confirm the beneficiaries and the distribution. It may also set hearing dates and service periods despite the usual time limits, direct a formal passing of only some entries, or dispense with formal passing. On a final passing it may discharge an administrator and decide whether an executor has fully accounted.

Compensation should be fair and reasonable, and factors include the size and complexity of the estate, time spent and skill. If the court later reduces compensation already paid, you must repay the disallowed amount with interest. If you are unsure about a question, you may apply to the court for advice or direction.

• Finish the ledger and gather statements and receipts.
• Draft the financial statements and proposed compensation schedule.
• Decide whether to seek releases.
• Confirm current form numbers before filing.
• Calendar the one-month notice period for a formal hearing.
• Get legal advice if beneficiaries are likely to object.

Frequently asked questions