Deceased Lived Abroad but Owned an Ontario House: Probate Steps

A relative has died while living in another country, and the estate includes a house, condo or land in Ontario. You may be the family member overseas, the named executor, or a beneficiary. You are probably wondering whether an Ontario court has to be involved and what it will ask for.

This article walks through the general steps: where to apply, which forms are involved, how estate tax and a bond can come up, and how filing works from a distance. Every estate is different, so use this as a map and not as a substitute for advice on your own file.

Why an Ontario house usually means an Ontario court application

Probate is applied for in the Superior Court of Justice, and it is usually needed when the deceased owned real property or held assets at a financial institution that requires it. An Ontario house is real property, so a court-issued certificate is the normal route to deal with it.

When the deceased lived outside Ontario, the application is filed in the county or district where they owned Ontario property. That tells you which court location handles your file, even if nobody in the family lives nearby.

For an estate valued at up to $150,000, the application is for a Small Estate Certificate. Otherwise it is for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee. A house will often push the estate beyond the small estate limit, but the value of everything counted matters.

Foreign appointments and the forms involved

Sometimes a court or authority in the deceased's home country has already appointed someone to handle the estate. Form 74J, the Application for Certificate or Confirmation of Appointment, is the current form for applications based on an appointment made outside Ontario. A related form, 74K, is a nomination by a foreign estate trustee.

Whether your situation fits that route, or whether a regular application is simpler, depends on the facts and on what documents exist abroad. This is a good point to have an Ontario lawyer review the paperwork.

Forms 74A, 74B, 74B.1, 74J, 74.1A and 74.1B have an effective date of August 13, 2025. Forms change over time, so make sure any form you use is the current version.

Valuing the estate, estate administration tax and the bond

Form 74A requires the total value of real property, personal property and the whole estate at the date of death. For a deceased who lived abroad, the tax picture is narrower than you might expect. Real estate outside Ontario is excluded from the estate value for estate administration tax, and a resealed or ancillary certificate counts only Ontario assets.

For applications on or after January 1, 2020, there is no tax on an estate valued at $50,000 or less, although a return is still required. Above that, the tax is $15 per $1,000, or part of $1,000, of the estate value. The value is rounded up to the nearest $1,000.

Mortgages and liens can be deducted from the value of real property, but funeral expenses, lawyer fees, loans and interest, credit card debt, vehicle debt, real estate commissions and lines of credit cannot be deducted. The tax is paid as a deposit when you apply. It becomes the tax once the certificate is issued, and it is refunded if no certificate is issued.

A bond is required if there is no will, if the applicant is not the named trustee, or if the applicant does not live in Ontario, another Canadian province or territory, or a Commonwealth country. The bond is generally double the estate value unless a judge orders otherwise. Surety can be an Ontario-licensed surety insurer or personal sureties, and a motion to dispense with a bond is another form that may come up.

Notice, filing from overseas and timing

Before filing, the applicant must send a copy of the signed application to each estate beneficiary, meaning everyone entitled to a share. It can go by email to their last known address, or by regular mail or courier. If a beneficiary is a minor or an incapable adult, the Office of the Children's Lawyer and the Public Guardian and Trustee may also need to be served.

Filing can be by mail or by email under the Superior Court practice direction. Each email must be under 35 MB, each PDF must contain one court form, and a court file number comes back by email within five business days.

Paper still matters. The original will, codicils, bonds, ancillary certificates and certified copies must be filed on paper at the court location where the application was filed. Estate administration tax must be paid in person or sent by mail or courier. For someone overseas, this usually means arranging a lawyer or courier in Ontario.

Ontario states that applications are typically processed within 15 business days, longer if documents are missing or a judge must decide an issue. If granted, the certificate is issued electronically and emailed to the address provided unless a paper certificate was requested.

What to do next

• Locate the original will and any codicil, and find out who is holding them.
• Order the death certificate and gather any foreign appointment documents.
• Collect the Ontario property details, including any mortgage balance.
• List every beneficiary with a last known address or email.
• Decide who will apply, and check whether a bond is likely to be needed.
• Plan for the estate information return, which must be filed within 180 calendar days of the certificate being issued, even if no tax is payable.
• Speak with an Ontario lawyer before filing if a foreign grant, a missing will or a dispute is involved.

Frequently asked questions