How long probate takes in Ontario
Getting the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee in Ontario commonly takes about three to six months from filing, and the estate is rarely finished at that point. Settling one usually runs closer to a year, and longer where there is property to sell, a business, or a dispute. The Estate Administration Tax is payable when the application is filed, which is before any of that money has been released.
- Application filed
- Certificate granted
- Estate settled
- 3 to 6 monthsTo the certificateCommon in Ontario from filing, and it varies by court location and by how clean the application is.
- About a yearTo settle fullyLonger with property to sell, a business, or any dispute.
- Payable at filingThe taxEstate Administration Tax is due when the application is made, before anyone has received anything.
- A named beneficiaryPaid without waitingLife insurance to a named person is generally paid directly and does not sit in probate.
What the clock is actually waiting for
The court is not the only queue. Before the application goes in, the estate trustee has to find the will, list and value the assets, and get the numbers right, because the tax is calculated on the estate's value and an under-valued filing has to be corrected later.
After the certificate arrives, banks and land registry act on it, beneficiaries have to be located, and the trustee is expected to hold something back for final taxes. That last step is why an estate that is 'done' in the family's mind is still open on paper.
What stalls it
A missing or unsigned will. An executor who cannot or will not act. Real property that has to be sold in a slow market. A beneficiary nobody can find. A dependant's support claim. Assets in another province or country, each with their own process.
The most avoidable one is a designation nobody checked. When an asset was supposed to pass outside the estate and does not, it joins the probate pile, adds to the tax and adds to the wait.
What the family lives on in the meantime
This is the part planning can actually change. A life insurance benefit paid to a named beneficiary is generally paid directly and does not wait for probate. A jointly held account may pass by survivorship. Everything else waits.
So the question worth asking now is not how long probate takes, it is which bills arrive during it and where that money comes from. Funeral costs, property taxes, a mortgage and the Estate Administration Tax itself all land before the estate pays out.
What people ask next
Can probate be avoided in Ontario?
Parts of an estate can pass outside it, and how that works depends on how assets are held and designated. It is a legal question for your lawyer. The planning question is different and it is the one asked here: if probate does apply, is there money available to pay the tax and the bills without the family having to sell something.
Who pays the Estate Administration Tax?
The estate does, but the timing is the problem: it is payable when the application is filed, which is before the estate has been distributed. On an $800,000 estate that is $11,250 that has to come from somewhere first.
Does a small estate go faster?
It can. Ontario has a simplified small-estate process for estates at or under $150,000, which is a shorter application. It does not remove the need to get the valuation right.
Where these figures come from
Checked 28 August 2026
- Estate Administration Tax Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 34, Sched., on when the tax is payable.
- Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 74.1, on the small estate court application threshold of $150,000.
- Timing ranges are what is commonly seen in Ontario and are not a court commitment.
Ehsan Khandaker is a licensed financial and estate planner, CLU and CHS. He is not a lawyer and does not draft documents. This page is general information about Ontario rules, not guidance about your own situation, and a will is drawn up by a lawyer.
The question worth answering now is which bills arrive during probate, and where that money comes from.