If the Public Trustee administersan estate, the Public Trustee will: Contact the OPGT immediately if you think: If there is money in an estate administered by the Public Trustee, and the beneficiaries cannot be found, the funds will eventually go to Albertas provincial treasurer. To administer the estate, the main tasks of a personal representative are to: Additional information can be found in the Estate Administration Act. The estate lawyers at West Legal will provide you with an honest assessment of whether or not you can avoid probate and the associated legal costs. The grant provides official confirmation of a personal representative, protecting these kinds of third-party organizations. Form GA1 Grant Application Form GA2 Inventory Form GA3 Notice to Beneficiaries and Other Interested Parties Form GA4 Notice to Public Trustee (if there are The new GA Forms came into effect on June 15, 2022 for all grant applications in Alberta. Our office is closed to the public until further notice as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In an effort to modernize and simplify the process for getting a grant, Alberta amended these Surrogate Rules and simplified the forms. Limited Grants of Probate allow for a faster process to sell these assets. The law may have changed since then. At times this happens under the direction of the courts. Acceptable documents proving death are a Death Certificate or Funeral Directors Statement of Death. The Public Trustee will only consider administering an estate if a minor, or a Represented Adult client of the Public Trustee, is a beneficiary of the estate and no other party is administering. Read more about when Probate is necessary in Alberta here. The Public Trustee cannot arrange for someone to be reimbursed for funeral expenses, unless the Public Trustee is administering the estate. There is also a new requirement that the applicant provide the Court with proof of death. acknowledging they must carry out the core tasks of a personal representative, which are: identifying the estate assets and liabilities, satisfying the debts and obligations of the estate, distributing and accounting for the administration of the estate, in agreement with the deceaseds intentions as set out in the will/codicil (if there is one), with the care, diligence, and skill that a person of ordinary prudence would exercise in comparable circumstances where a fiduciary relationship exists, give proper notice of the application to those entitled to receive notice and serve the Form GA2 Inventory on those entitled to receive it, if the value of any asset or debt is to be determined, serve an amended Form GA2 Inventory on those persons entitled to receive one when updated information is available, acknowledge they must distribute the estate as soon as practicable, acknowledge they will get a signed Form GA20 from any trustee before distributing property to that trustee, undertake to notify all beneficiaries and persons with potential claims against the estate who were identified in the application by providing them with notice when the Court issues the grant, agree to faithfully administer the deceaseds estate according to law and give a true accounting of their administration to the persons entitled to it when lawfully required, the deceaseds assets located within Alberta as well as those assets located outside Alberta, and. Your submissions are monitored by our web team and are used to help improve the experience on Alberta.ca. Then the appropriate You may want to discuss these questions with a lawyer. The deceased persons bank may consider advancing funds from a deceased persons bank account directly to the funeral home for funeral costs. ?YHD!7* UkhTKZc77FS,Th-b'&mLZ0mq7}z@q|BcP=O#Uq3?(siNB}:)A1k BNz&$PY&xmJO2$U0!y@M2A 2WxXJ/?cb@#4pc'HC76b9JC:xu:5i N}(&!u7>|;\Rjm0gbex5Zkw'@k4y56?oNa^t>KfoBtx-6#uQE"Kz The personal representative will need to contact the deceased persons bank to inquire. In this part, the applicant sets out information about the will and any codicils. In the Calgary area, please call us at 403-225-8810. The personal representative must provide the following to the OPGT office: The Public Trustee will review the submitted documents and respond to the court. The package also includes a link to all applicable court forms required for your application. Getting a Grant of Probate or Administration - CPLEA.CA Getting a Grant of Probate or Administration Getting a Grant of Probate or Administration Booklet with detailed Download forms for applying to the Court of Kings Bench dealing with non-contentious surrogate matters. Members of the Law Society of Alberta filing grant applications for probate are required to use the Surrogate Digital Service (SDS). You will NOT receive a reply on your feedback. Probating an estate means making an application to the Surrogate Court in Alberta. If you pass away without a Will, a grant of administration is nearly always required, and the application for such a grant is typically more complex than a probate application. What we do believe in, is careful and creative planning so that your estate can avoid probate in circumstances where the downsides to avoiding probate are limited. Further information on this service and locations can be found on the Court and Justice Services (CJS) website. You may want to contact a lawyer to discuss specific questions or receive assistance with the administration process. To get answers to questions, use Alberta Connects. @$ ( Hr4KI@;2_nw\mhyb(aqex`25c ?C,8Px>;dQP=NX!zOH% You must: fill out the appropriate application forms, which are known as the surrogate forms publish a notice in the newspaper for those with potential claims against the estate This means the Court clerks do not review the Inventory. Priority is usually given to Alberta residents, except for spouses and adult interdependent partners. The address for w To apply for a Grant of Administration you should reach out to a qualified wills and estates attorney who can help you begin the process. Not every form must be used in every case. The applicant must list the jointly owned assets to the best of their ability using the information available to them. To best assist you, we offer free consultations regarding probate, Limited Grants of Probate and determining if you require this process at all. Jiz39=uC2! qapg[NmJ3VmQ*7NBD`g,H:]B\yqtXNnf @FOu&^;90=+ qufJfEZe{Oe6Ys "N]aL)uGYa Xjd'| As soon as someone dies, his or her executor has the authority to take possession and control of the deceased person's property and do anything in relation to that property that the deceased could have done. Government of Alberta Subject: Members of the public, or their lawyers complete and submit this form to the Court of King's Bench in estate matters when they need a grant of probate, Priority, according to the Surrogate Rules, is to the family of the deceased in the following order: In Alberta, the Grant of Administration cannot be given to more than three people at once, except by court order. 11012 Macleod Trail,Calgary, AB T2J 6A5403-209-4988. endstream endobj 3059 0 obj <>stream Important To Note: Since the use of Limited Grants, the risky practice of trying to avoid probate is less useful. A grant of probate is a document signed by a Justice of the Court of Queens Bench of Alberta, that confirms the validity of a deceaseds last Will and affirms the Executors authority to distribute the deceaseds assets pursuant to that Will. You can also contact the Court of Kings Bench closest to where the deceased lived before they died to ask if any grants have been issued for the deceased persons estate if the person is not willing to share the document with you. A person entitled to a Grant of Administration may nominate someone else to be the administrator. Kahane Law in Calgary helps people with estates regularly. This review may take a week or more so the personal representative should ensure that the documents are submitted well in advance of any closing date. Booklet with detailed legal information about the different types of grants and how to apply for them in Alberta. Save the PDF form to your computer click or right-click the link and download the form. The people with the right to make funeral arrangements and deal with a deceased persons remains are: The Funeral Services General Regulations provides a priority list of who has the authority to make funeral arrangements. Call 403-225-8810 today. The new rules and forms came into effect on June 15, 2022. If you need to reach us please call 780-451-8764 (you will have to leave a message) or email. wills@west-legal.ca or 403-723-0175 to get started. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Anything that deals with time sensitive assets, assets that rapidly depreciate or require a lot of work or money to maintain and more. WebAlways ensure that, if you live in Alberta, that you understand the process here. A request for a grant of probate is used to ask the court to confirm that the person named in the will has the authority to administer the estate. Banks and other institutions sometimes require a Grant of Probate before they will release assets to a personal representative. hbbd``b`jASUbiXA@&Fu@#n?_ The probate process requires extensive paperwork which is often confusing. %%EOF These include when there is a minor child interested in the estate, a missing beneficiary, or the Public Trustee is the trustee for a beneficiary of the estate. Estates with nominal assets usually do not. The applicant must include here any renunciations, nominations, bonds (for applicants residing outside of Alberta), and consents of beneficiaries to proceeding without a bond. Before June 15, 2022, the applicant only had to report assets the deceased owned that were located within Alberta. With offices in Calgary and Edmonton, we help you at at time when emotions and stress make things harder. Typically, a grant of probate is obtained for estates where a valid will exists that appoints a willing and able personal representative. While you dont have to retain a lawyers services when applying for a grant of probate or a grant of administration, it is highly recommended. hL At West Legal, we take a People First approach. Shelly Chamaschuk is a partner at Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP in Edmonton, Alberta. Members of the Law Society filing grant applications other than probate must include a GA1 Submission Eligibility Form (PDF, 35 KB) with each application indicating why it is not eligible to be processed through the SDS. Its sensible for you to reach out to us or another Calgary probate lawyer, even if your loved one passed away out-of-province. We understand that there is more to you than the legal inquiry that brought you in. Self-represented applicants are not required to use this form. The Public Trustee must consent to a transfer of land any time a minor has an interest in an estate, even if the transfer or sale of the land does not affect the gift received by the minor. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of LawNow or the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.
