How does an estate trustee finish the job and close the file?

Distribution normally waits until debts are paid, the terminal and estate tax returns are filed, and a clearance certificate confirms tax is settled. Where a beneficiary might have a claim, a spouse or dependant seeking support under the Succession Law Reform Act, distributing before the deadline for that claim has passed carries real risk for the trustee.

The accounts set out every asset the estate held, everything paid out for debts, expenses and administration, and every receipt, in a structured format the Rules of Civil Procedure recognize. Even where the accounts will not be formally passed before a court, preparing them in that format makes it easier for beneficiaries to understand and for a lawyer to review.

Most estates never go to court for this step. If every beneficiary entitled to see the accounts is an adult with capacity and signs a release approving them, along with a release of the estate trustee, the estate can be finalized without a judge ever reviewing the file. Compensation is usually agreed at the same time as the release.

Where a beneficiary objects, cannot consent, such as a minor, or the trustee wants the protection of a court order, the accounts are passed formally before the Superior Court of Justice. Anyone with an interest can file a notice of objection to a specific item; an assessment officer or judge reviews the accounts and the objections and issues a judgment approving them, with or without adjustment.

An estate trustee is entitled to fair compensation for the work of administering the estate, commonly calculated as a percentage of the estate's value under a scale courts have used for decades, though the will can set its own amount instead. Compensation is normally taken only once the accounts are approved, whether by release or by the court, not helped along the way.