Notifying the Public Trustee of a Minor Beneficiary in Alberta

If a minor is a beneficiary, the personal representative must send the grant application and a GA4 Notice to Public Trustee to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee. Whether an estate has a minor beneficiary depends on the will or the intestacy rules, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer if you are unsure.

This article explains when that notice is needed, what to send, how it fits with other notices in the grant process, and where a lawyer can help with what happens to the child's share.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

When the notice is required

If a minor is a beneficiary, the personal representative must send the grant application and a GA4 Notice to Public Trustee to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee. Whether this applies in a particular estate depends on who the beneficiaries are and how the estate is set up, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer if you are unsure. The notice is also a separate step from the other notices in the grant process described below.

It helps to be clear about roles. The Public Trustee cannot help with grant applications. The notice makes the office aware of the child's interest. It does not mean the office prepares or files your application.

How the notice fits into the grant application

Grant applications can be made online through the Surrogate Digital Service (SDS) or on paper using GA forms starting with the GA1. To use SDS online you must be an Alberta resident and one of the applicants. The Alberta-resident requirement applies to the online service and does not apply to paper applications.

Separate from the Public Trustee notice, the Estate Administration Act requires the applicant to serve the grant application and a Wills and Succession Act Part 5 notice of family members' rights on listed persons. A grant must not be issued unless the Court is satisfied this was done. There are exceptions. A spouse or adult interdependent partner who is the sole beneficiary need not receive the family-member rights notice, and service may be excused for someone who cannot be found after reasonable inquiry.

Once the grant is issued, the applicant must serve a notice of grant issuing (Form GA7) within 30 days after the grant is issued, on the people listed in Form GA1. Check the current Surrogate Rules with a lawyer so you serve the right people on time.

Land transfers and timing

Transfers of land in an estate with a minor beneficiary also need Public Trustee consent. Review may take a week or more. If the estate includes a home or other real property, build that time into your plans, especially if a sale or transfer is waiting on it.

What happens to the child's share

What happens to a minor's share depends on the will, if there is one, and on how the estate is structured. Where there is no will, the Wills and Succession Act sets out who receives an intestate estate. Whether the share is held in trust, how long it is held and who looks after it are questions to take to a lawyer, because the answer turns on the document and the facts.

Some property may not be part of the estate at all. Property that passes by beneficiary designation or joint ownership may fall outside the estate, so administration may not be needed for it.

Be careful about timing too. An application for maintenance and support by a dependant must be commenced within 6 months after the grant is issued. The Court may allow a later application for any part of the estate not yet distributed. This is one reason a representative may hold back distributions.

What to do next

• Confirm whether any beneficiary, under the will or on an intestacy, is a minor.
• Prepare the GA4 Notice to Public Trustee along with the grant application.
• Send both to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee.
• Complete the family-member notices required for the application.
• Allow a week or more if land must be transferred.
• Diarize the 30-day deadline to serve the GA7 once the grant is issued.
• Ask a lawyer how the child's share should be held and managed.

Frequently asked questions