For executors

What will probate cost on this estate?

In Ontario the fee is called Estate Administration Tax. There is none on the first $50,000, and $15 for every $1,000 above it.

The arithmetic is the easy part. What trips families up is what belongs in the total, so this asks for the pieces rather than one number.

What the estate holds

Leave anything blank if it does not apply. Round to the nearest thousand, it does not need to be exact.

Real estate in Ontario What the home would sell for today. If there is more than one property, add them together.

Mortgage or line of credit registered against it This comes off. Only debt registered against the property counts here, not credit cards or loans.

Bank accounts and investments Chequing, savings, GICs and non-registered investments held in the person’s name alone.

Vehicles and personal property Cars, and anything of real value such as jewellery or art. Ordinary household contents are usually nominal.

Anything else in the estate Business interests, money owed to the person, property outside Ontario is treated differently and is worth asking the lawyer about.

What usually does not count

This is where the number goes wrong. These generally pass outside the estate, so they are usually left out of the calculation altogether:

Property held jointly with a right of survivorship, which usually passes straight to the survivor
An RRSP, RRIF or TFSA with a named beneficiary
A life insurance policy paid to a named beneficiary rather than to the estate

Joint ownership between a parent and an adult child is the one to be careful with. It does not always do what families expect, and it is a question for the estate lawyer rather than something to settle around the kitchen table.

And the mortgage comes off

Real estate in Ontario counts at its value less any mortgage or line of credit registered against it. That is why the mortgage has its own line above. Other debts, credit cards and personal loans, do not come off for this purpose even though the estate still has to pay them.

The question worth asking before you pay any of it

Ask the estate lawyer: "Does this property qualify for the first dealings exemption?" If the home was bought before Ontario converted the land registry and the title has not changed hands since, it may be possible to transfer or sell it without probating the will at all. On a York Region house that is often five figures that simply does not have to be paid. It takes a title search to answer, and nobody will check unless you ask.

The house is usually the biggest number here

We prepare written date of death valuations for estates across York Region and Durham, with the comparable sales documented so your accountant and the beneficiaries can use them. There is no cost and no obligation to list the home with us afterward.

Read the executor guide

This calculator is general information for Ontario, not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own situation. It applies the Estate Administration Tax rate current at the time of writing, $15 per $1,000 above $50,000. Rates and thresholds are set by the province and can change. What counts toward an estate depends on how each asset is held, and only the estate lawyer can confirm it for yours. Source: Ontario, Estate Administration Tax. Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract with a brokerage.