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Bulletin information:

Issue Date: April 18, 1995
Legislation: Courts of Justice Act, Regulations 484/94 and 740/94 Rules 74 and 75 of the Rules of Civil Procedure

Bulletin content:

The Rules of Civil Procedure have been amended and effective January 1, 1995, Letters Probate and Letters of Administration will not be issued by the Courts. Instead, the Ontario Court (General Division) will be issuing any of the following certificates which are acceptable for registration under:

  1. the Registry Act, as a general registration; and
  2. the Land Titles Act, as evidence of authority when attached to a transmission application or a survivorship application where applicable.

The Certificates are:

  1. a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will (Form 74.13);
  2. a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will (Form 74.20);
  3. a Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee With a Will (Form 74.23);
  4. a Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee Without a Will (Form 74.26);
  5. a Confirmation by Resealing of Appointment of Estate Trustee (Form 74.28) – this may be with or without a Will where the original appointment of Estate Trustee was granted by a Court of competent jurisdiction in the United Kingdom, in a province or territory of Canada, or any British possession;
  6. a Certificate of Ancillary Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will (Form 74.29) – this is granted by a Court having jurisdiction outside Ontario excluding the jurisdictions listed in number 5 above;
  7. a Certificate of Appointment of an Estate Trustee During Litigation (Form 74.31).

All of the above forms of Certificate are attached to this bulletin for your reference.

Land Registry Office staff are to accept the certificates of appointment of Estate Trustee as evidence of authority and are not required to ask for a statement or an affidavit from the registrant or the solicitor for the estate of the deceased registered owner in support of the appointment.

The procedure under Devolution of Estates on Pages 5531 to 5553 in the Land Titles Procedural Guide will continue to apply with the appropriate amendments to reflect the issuance of new Certificates.

The execution name search rules in respect of the Estate Trustee and the deceased registered owners are the same as in the case of the Executor/Administrator and the deceased registered owner.

The new Rules apply to all applications made after January 1, 1995 even if the death occurred prior to that date.

Letters Probate or Letters of Administration issued prior to December 31, 1994, will continue to be acceptable for registration under:

  1. Registry Act, as a general registration and
  2. the Land Titles Act, as evidence of authority when attached to a transmission application or a survivorship application.

Abstracting Standards:

  1. Land Titles – Manual System

    Only two different entries will be made; one where the deceased died with a will and one where the deceased died without a will. As the majority of estates are with a will, no reference to the will is required in the entry in this situation. Where there is no will, the entry will specify this. Therefore, examples of the entries are:

    1. Jones, Robert Frederick

      Estate Trustee of Jones, John Robert

    2. Johnston, James Gregory

      Estate Trustee without a will of Smith, Mary Beth

  2. Land Titles – Automated Systems

    As the entries are generated by the system, they will specifically indicate that the will is or is not attached. Therefore, examples of the entries are:

    Owner’s NameCapShare

    Ryan, Marilyn

    		Estate Trusteewith a will
    Ryan, MarilynEstate Trusteewithout a will
    Ryan, MarilynEstate Trusteewithout a will
    Ryan, JonathanEstate Trusteewithout a will
  3. Registry – Manual and Automated Systems

    There are no changes to the abstracting procedures however, page GR-3 of the abstracting standards will be issued to reflect the change in the heading of the alphabetical index.

  4. Pre-December 31, 1994

    In those cases where the letters probate and the letters of administration have been issued under the  former process, the 1988 abstracting standards will govern.

Replacement pages for the abstracting standards for Land Titles, Registry and the automated system will be issued to the land registry offices under separate cover.

Original signed by:

Ian Veitch, Director of Land Registration
Katherine M. Murray, Director of Titles