What Is a Grant of Administration in Alberta?

If you have been told you need a grant of administration, you are probably dealing with the estate of someone who died without a will. Institutions often want proof that you have legal authority before they release anything.

This article explains what the document is, what it allows you to do, and what the process to get one involves in Alberta.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

What a grant is

Under the Estate Administration Act, a grant means the Court's grant of the authority to administer an estate. When there is no will, the grant is one of administration, and the person who receives it is the personal representative.

The Act applies where the deceased was a resident of Alberta on the date of death or owned property in Alberta.

What it authorizes

After a grant issues, no person other than the personal representative it is issued to has authority to act for the estate. That is why a family member, even a close one, cannot normally deal with the estate's affairs on their own word.

The authority is not always unlimited. A limited grant may be restricted to certain property, a time period or a purpose, and the Court may attach conditions, which must be set out in the grant. Where special circumstances require, the Court may issue a grant to the Public Trustee or another suitable person.

When banks and land titles ask for one

Whether a grant is needed depends on the asset and the institution. Banks, investment firms and the land titles office each set their own requirements, so ask each one what it needs for the specific account or property.

Some assets may pass outside the estate altogether, such as jointly owned property that passes by survivorship or accounts with a named beneficiary. Those may not need a grant, but how an asset is held decides this, and a lawyer can confirm.

Who can apply when there is no will

The Estate Administration Act sets an order of priority for applying when there is no will. It starts with the surviving spouse or adult interdependent partner, then a child, grandchild, other descendant, parent, and brother or sister, and continues through further relatives and people with an interest, ending with the Crown in right of Alberta.

• Between applicants of equal priority, unless the Court rules otherwise on application, preference must be given to a resident of Alberta.
• Between competing spouses or partners, preference goes to the one who lived with the deceased immediately or most recently before death.
• Where several people have equal priority by kinship, such as several children, the Court may grant authority to one or more of them as it considers appropriate.
• Those entitled may nominate a person to administer the estate, and the Surrogate Rules provide Form GA13 Nomination and Form GA11 Renunciation.
• Before a grant issues to an applicant, persons ranking higher in the priority list must renounce.
• A grant of administration must not be given to more than 3 persons at the same time.

If age is a concern for a would-be administrator, confirm the requirement with the Surrogate Clerks' Office. How the priority list applies to your family depends on your situation, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

How the application works

• The applicant must file Form GA1 (Grant Application) and any other forms the circumstances require.
• The GA forms apply to applications filed on or after June 15, 2022.
• The applicant must serve the GA1 with a Form GA2 Inventory on beneficiaries on intestacy and persons required under s. 11 of the Estate Administration Act.
• Form GA4 notice goes to the Public Trustee where circumstances require, and an affidavit of service (GA5) must be filed within 30 days after service.
• Unless the court orders otherwise, no grant is issued until the clerk has completed a search for other applications or wills.
• No grant shall issue unless the applicant has given a bond or other security under the Rules, though no bond is required for a personal representative resident in Alberta.

Online applications go through the Surrogate Digital Service. Individuals without a lawyer need to be Alberta residents and one of the applicants, and paper applications starting with GA1 are also accepted. Online submissions receive the same Court review as paper ones, and an approved grant is issued digitally.

What to do next

Once a grant issues, the applicant must give notice of the grant in Form GA7 within 30 days after it issues. No official timeline for a grant is set out, so do not rely on a fixed number of weeks.

• Confirm you are entitled to apply and that higher-ranking relatives have renounced.
• Gather the death certificate and a list of the estate's assets and debts.
• Review the Court's SDS Clerk Review Guidelines before submitting, to avoid delays.
• Note that SDS can only process Part 1 applications, and it will reject one if a Justice requires formal proof by Chambers application.
• Ask each bank or registry what proof of authority it accepts.

Frequently asked questions