Originally published: January 8, 2016 | Last updated: December 25, 2024
Dying intestate means dying without a valid Last Will and Testament. When this happens, you leave no legal instructions for your family, no appointed executor, and no plan for your estate. Your provincial government controls all aspects of intestate succession through their laws which determine asset distribution and process management and child custody responsibilities. More than 65% of Canadian adults lack a valid Will which makes them vulnerable to all six listed outcomes.
Dying intestate means dying without a valid Last Will and Testament. When this happens, you leave no legal instructions for your family, no appointed executor, and no plan for your estate. Instead, your provincial government’s intestate succession laws dictate everything, who gets what, who manages the process, and who raises your children. Over 65% of Canadian adults currently have no valid Will, putting them at risk of all six consequences described below.
1. Your Family Is Left Completely Confused
When someone dies without a Will, their family has no roadmap. They do not know your wishes for asset distribution, funeral arrangements, or who should manage the estate. This confusion arrives at the worst possible moment; while your family is grieving. Without clear instructions, family members may disagree about what you would have wanted, leading to arguments that can permanently damage relationships. A Will eliminates this confusion by providing explicit, legally binding instructions that your family can follow with confidence.
The death of someone who did not create a Will leaves their family members without any guidance to follow. People remain unaware about your instructions regarding how to distribute assets and what to do with your funeral services and which person should handle your estate. The time of extreme family grief creates the perfect environment for this misunderstanding to start. Family members will fight about your actual preferences because there are no instructions which will damage their relationship bonds permanently. A Will eliminates this confusion by providing explicit, legally binding instructions that your family can follow with confidence.
Your executor is the person who manages your estate after death; locating assets, paying debts, filing tax returns, and distributing your property. Without a Will, no executor exists. Instead, someone must apply to the court to become the estate administrator. This requires a court application (which costs money and takes months), a surety bond (an insurance policy guaranteeing proper administration), and ongoing court oversight. The court may appoint someone you would not have chosen, and the entire process is slower, more expensive, and more stressful than simply naming an executor in your Will. Learn more about the executor role.
2. No Executor Has Been Named
Until a court appoints an administrator, your assets are effectively frozen. Bank accounts cannot be accessed, property cannot be sold or transferred, investments cannot be managed, and bills cannot be paid from the estate. This can leave your surviving family in serious financial difficulty, particularly if they relied on your income or if mortgage payments, utility bills, and other expenses continue to accrue. The freeze can last months while the court processes the administration application. With a Will, your named executor can begin acting much sooner, often immediately after probate is granted.
Your executor will take charge of your estate after you pass away by finding your belongings and settling your debts and handling your tax obligations and distributing your assets. Without a Will, no executor exists. Someone needs to request court approval for estate administration to start the process of becoming the estate administrator. A court application process requires applicants to spend money while they wait for months to receive court approval and they must secure a surety bond which functions as an insurance policy that protects the court from improper administration and they must continue court supervision until the process completes. The court appoints a person who lacks your personal approval which creates a process that runs longer than naming an executor through your Will while costing more money and producing greater stress. Learn more about the executor role.
Without a Will, you have no say in who receives your assets. Each province has its own intestate succession formula, a rigid set of rules that divides your estate among legal relatives based on their relationship to you. The results often surprise families. In most provinces, a married person with children will see their estate split between their spouse and children, with the spouse receiving a preferential share (which varies by province from $40,000 to $350,000) and the remainder divided. Common-law partners may receive nothing in most provinces. Friends receive nothing. Stepchildren receive nothing. The formula does not account for your actual relationships, financial needs, or wishes. For a detailed breakdown, see dying without a Will in Canada.
3. Your Assets Are Frozen
Intestate succession laws distribute your estate exclusively to legal relatives. There is no mechanism to direct assets to charitable organizations, community groups, or causes you cared about. If you wanted to leave money to your favourite charity, your alma mater, an animal shelter, or a religious organization, that wish cannot be fulfilled without a Will. Charitable bequests also provide significant tax benefits; donations made through a Will can be claimed against up to 100% of net income on your final tax return, potentially reducing or eliminating your estate’s tax liability. By dying intestate, you lose both the ability to give and the tax advantage. Learn more about charitable bequests in Canadian Wills.
A court administrator has the power to freeze all your assets until they receive their appointment from the court. The estate blocks access to bank accounts while preventing property sales and transfers and investment management and payment of bills. The death of a family member will create major financial problems for your family members because they used to receive your salary and all your bills including mortgage payments and utility charges and other expenses need to be paid. The freeze period continues through multiple months because the court needs to finish processing the administration application. Your designated executor will gain immediate authority to start their duties once the court grants probate.
If both parents die without Wills and leave minor children, a court must decide who raises them. The court will attempt to place children with a suitable family member, but the process takes time, involves social workers and lawyers, and the outcome may not match what the parents would have chosen. The children may be placed in temporary care during the proceedings. Additionally, without a Will there are no trusts for the children’s inheritance, meaning any money they receive is managed by a court-appointed guardian of property under strict court oversight, rather than a trusted person of your choosing with flexibility to use funds for the children’s benefit.
4. The Government Decides How Your Estate Is Distributed
The solution is simple: write a Will. At LegalWills.ca, the entire process takes about 20 minutes and costs $49.95. You name your executor, your beneficiaries, your children’s guardians, set up trusts, include charitable gifts, and generate a province-specific legal document ready to print and sign. There is no reason to leave your family facing any of these six consequences when the fix is this straightforward. Start with our step-by-step guide to writing your Will.
Once your Will is complete, make sure it can be found. Tell your executor where it is stored, use the Keyholders feature at LegalWills.ca, and keep it in a safe but accessible location. A Will that cannot be found after your death is effectively the same as having no Will at all.
Tim Hewson is one of the founders of LegalWills.ca.
He has over 20 years of experience helping people to write their Will and other estate planning documents. He has been interviewed by many of the major news media outlets including CTV, Global News, The Toronto Star, and other leading Canadian publications. He has also contributed to a number of financial planning books.
Throughout his career, Tim has written extensively on the subject of Will writing and estate planning.
