LOSING SOMEONE IS HARD ENOUGH. ALLOW US TO LIGHTEN YOUR BURDEN BY ASSISTING WITH PROBATE.

Open Door Law Corporation has been helping estate executors and administrators obtain probate for decades. We have a deep knowledge of how to navigate the Supreme Court process for probate and what it takes to get court approval. To date, we have had a 100% success rate in obtaining probate grants for clients and we don’t shy away from complexity and celebrate it as every probate is unique.

When you are ready, we are here for you. Until then, we offer some general information that might be of assistance.

WHAT IS “PROBATE”?

Probate is a process of obtaining court approval to confirm the validity of a deceased person’s will.

Did you know that not all wills need to be probated? The size of the estate, the assets held by a deceased individual and where assets are held are all considerations that go into whether or not a court application is necessary. Although it is common for an institution that holds a deceased person’s assets to require a grant of probate, many times we can advise our clients that they don’t need to do a probate application if we can find a way around it.

The benefit of avoiding probate is that time and expense can be avoided as the courts have a grant fee that has to be paid before the probate is released and they take time to review the application. As well, even after the grant of probate is obtained, the legislation governing probate has some provisions that stipulate that an executor should not pay out any assets to any of the beneficiaries for a specific period of time unless certain conditions apply. This often takes more time and it is not unusual for a distribution process to take one or two years to complete.

WHAT IS “ADMINISTRATION”?

When a person passes away without a will, the person’s estate is referred to as an “intestate” or a no will estate. Intestate estates can still be probated, but instead of applying for a grant of probate, one applies for a grant of administration. Usually a will stipulates who is the executor that has the right to apply for probate. In an intestate estate, legislation dictates who can apply for the administration of a deceased person’s estate. Different classes of people have priority in terms of their ability to apply to the courts.

Resealing a Foreign Grant

The word “resealing” refers to taking an existing court approved administration in one legal jurisdiction and filing it along with other documentation in another jurisdiction to obtain court approval in the second jurisdiction if there are assets in that jurisdiction. Learn more »

We are here for Executors

Being an executor or administrator is both honourable and daunting. Honouring one’s final wishes can be said to be one of life’s most noble acts but performing the duties of executor requires a skilled and experienced lawyer as there is risk in being an executor. Whether you are an executor or administrator or need assistance with the resealing of a foreign grant, we are always here to help. Feel free to contact our office to set up an appointment to discuss your situation. If you are ready to proceed, feel free to complete our probate intake form or review our Executor Checklist.

• Executor Checklist – The duties required of an executor as part of the probate process to help keep our first meeting organized and efficient.