If you die without a will in Ontario, you die intestate, and a provincial law called the Succession Law Reform Act decides who inherits your property in fixed shares you cannot change. Your married spouse, your children, or your closest blood relatives receive set portions in a set order, your common law partner receives nothing automatically, and a court appoints someone to settle everything.
That default plan rarely matches what people actually want. It ignores your stepchildren, your closest friends, the charity you supported for years, and every wish you never wrote down. It can also tie your family up in court for months and cost the estate thousands of dollars that a simple will would have prevented.
We handle these matters every week, both for people planning ahead and for families left to untangle an estate after a loss. Here are the ten things that actually happen when there is no will in Ontario, and what each one means for the people you leave behind.
1. A government formula decides who gets what, not you
When there is no valid will, Ontario law treats your wishes as unknown and applies a default scheme set out in Part II of the Succession Law Reform Act. This is the statute that governs inheritance when someone dies intestate. It does not ask what you would have wanted. It moves down a fixed list of relatives and hands out fixed shares in a fixed order.
That order starts with your married spouse and children. If you have neither, it moves to your parents, then your brothers and sisters, then your nieces and nephews, and then your nearest blood relatives. The people closest to your heart have no standing in this list unless they happen to be married to you or related to you by blood or adoption.
One may assume the law will do what they would have wanted. It does not. It follows a formula, and the formula does not know your family. Demet Altunbulakli, Founder, Insight Law Professional Corporation
2. Your married spouse may not inherit everything
Many people assume that if they die without a will, their husband or wife simply gets everything. That is only true when you have no children. Once children enter the picture, your spouse shares the estate with them under a rule called the preferential share.
For deaths on or after March 1, 2021, the preferential share is the first $350,000 of the estate. Your spouse takes that amount first. Whatever is left is then split between your spouse and your children. The table below shows how the default scheme plays out.
| Who survives you | Who inherits, and how much |
|---|---|
| Married spouse, no children | Your spouse receives the entire estate. |
| Married spouse and one child | Your spouse receives the first $350,000, then your spouse and child split the remainder equally. |
| Married spouse and two or more children | Your spouse receives the first $350,000 and one third of the remainder. Your children share the other two thirds equally. |
| Children but no spouse | Your children share the estate equally. A deceased child’s share passes to that child’s own children. |
| No spouse and no children | Your parents inherit, then your brothers and sisters, then your nieces and nephews, then your nearest blood relatives, in that order. |
| No living relatives at all | Your estate passes to the Government of Ontario. |
There is one more option for a married spouse. Instead of taking the intestate share above, a surviving spouse can elect to receive an equalization of net family property under the Family Law Act, the same calculation that applies on a divorce. That election has to be made within six months of the death, so it is a decision that should be reviewed quickly with a lawyer.
3. Your common law partner inherits nothing automatically
This is the single most damaging gap in Ontario law, and the one we see catch people out most often. For the purpose of dividing an estate when there is no will, the word spouse means a married spouse only. A common law partner, no matter how many years you lived together or how committed the relationship, does not inherit anything automatically when you die intestate.
Think about what that means in a common situation. A couple lives together for fifteen years in a home registered in one partner’s name. They never married and never made wills. If the partner whose name is on the title dies, the surviving partner has no automatic right to the home or to anything else in the estate. The property follows the formula to that partner’s children, parents, or siblings instead.
A common law partner is not completely without options, but every option means going to court. They can apply for dependant support under the Succession Law Reform Act if they qualified as a dependant of the deceased, and they may be able to bring an unjust enrichment claim for their contribution to shared property. These claims take time, cost money, and turn on the specific facts. The outcome is never certain. A will avoids all of it.
4. Someone has to apply to court to take charge of your estate
When you have a will, you name the person who will manage your estate. When you do not, no one has automatic authority to deal with your bank accounts, sell your home, or pay your debts. A family member has to apply to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to be appointed, in a process commonly called probate.
The court grant in an intestacy is called a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will. The married spouse has the first right to apply, followed by the next of kin. A common law partner has no automatic priority and has to apply like any other interested person, which can mean competing with the deceased’s children or relatives over who is in charge.
The administration bond
Because there is no will naming a trusted person, the law usually requires the applicant to post an administration bond, which is security that protects the beneficiaries against mismanagement. Bonds are based on the value of the estate, carry a recurring premium, and can be difficult to obtain. In most cases we ask the court to dispense with the bond, which generally requires written consents from the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries who are minors or who lack capacity cannot consent, which makes a bond much harder to avoid in exactly the situations where families most need a smooth process.
How the application works at our firm
Here is the path we walk families through when there is no will.
- Confirm there is no will and run a will search through the court’s estates office, so the application can state that a proper search was done.
- Identify who has the right to apply, and gather renunciations and consents from other relatives who are entitled but not applying.
- Value the estate as of the date of death so the Estate Administration Tax can be calculated correctly.
- Prepare the application. The standard form is Form 74A. For an estate valued at $150,000 or less, the simplified Small Estate Certificate uses Form 74.1A.
- Arrange the administration bond or ask the court to dispense with it, and serve notice on every beneficiary, including the Office of the Children’s Lawyer or the Public Guardian and Trustee where a minor or incapable person has an interest.
- File the application, pay the Estate Administration Tax, and wait for the court to issue the certificate.
Realistic timelines matter here. Preparing a clean application usually takes a few weeks once we have the documents. The court’s processing time is the variable that families cannot control, and in the Greater Toronto Area it commonly runs several months, longer if the application is returned for corrections. Only after the certificate issues can the estate trustee collect assets and distribute. A straightforward estate often takes the better part of a year from death to final distribution, and an intestacy with disputes or minor beneficiaries takes longer.
You can read more about this process on our probate and estate administration page.
5. The court decides who raises your minor children
If both parents of a child under 18 die without a will, no one becomes the child’s guardian automatically, not even a grandparent or godparent. Guardianship of a child is decided under the Children’s Law Reform Act, and someone has to apply to court to be appointed. Until that happens, there is a gap where no one has clear legal authority over the child’s care.
A will lets you name the guardian you would choose and gives the court your reasons in writing. The court still has the final say, because the test is always the best interests of the child, but a clearly stated wish from a parent carries real weight. Without it, relatives can disagree, the decision is left entirely to a judge who never met you, and your children sit in uncertainty while it is sorted out.
6. Your children’s inheritance is frozen until they turn 18
A child under 18 cannot legally receive an inheritance directly in Ontario. When there is a will, you can set up a trust that holds a child’s share and releases it gradually, often at ages you choose like 21, 25, and 30. When there is no will, none of that structure exists, and the law applies a blunt default instead.
If a child’s share is $35,000 or less, it can be paid to the parent or person with lawful custody. If it is more than $35,000 and no guardian of property has been appointed, the money is paid into court and held by the Accountant of the Superior Court of Justice until the child turns 18. A parent or guardian who needs funds for the child in the meantime has to ask, with approval from the Office of the Children’s Lawyer, and prove the money is for the child’s benefit.
Then comes the part that worries parents most. On the child’s eighteenth birthday, the entire amount is handed over in one lump sum, with no conditions and no oversight. A will lets you delay that and stagger it. An intestacy gives an eighteen year old the full inheritance the day they become an adult.
7. An estranged spouse can still inherit unless the separation meets a strict test
Separation and divorce are not the same thing in Ontario, and the difference can be expensive. A marriage ends legally only on divorce. Until then you remain married, even if you have lived apart for years.
Ontario law was changed effective January 1, 2022 so that a separated married spouse is cut out of the intestate inheritance, but only when the separation meets specific conditions at the date of death. Broadly, the spouses must have lived separate and apart for three years because of the breakdown of the marriage, or have a valid separation agreement, a court order settling their affairs, or a family arbitration award. If none of those apply, a spouse you split from but never divorced or formally separated can still inherit the preferential share and a share of your estate, ahead of the people you would have chosen. If you separate and do not make a will, the law may treat your estranged spouse as a full heir.
8. Stepchildren, friends, and charities are left out
The intestacy rules follow blood and legal relationships only. Children you legally adopted have the same rights as biological children. Stepchildren you raised but never adopted have none. They are not on the list, even if you treated them as your own for decades.
The same is true for everyone outside the family tree. A close friend, an unmarried partner, a caregiver, a cause you supported your whole life, none of them can receive anything from an intestate estate. A gift to any of them only happens if you write it into a will. If giving to someone who is not a blood relative matters to you, a will is the only way to make it happen.
9. Your estate takes longer and costs more to settle
Dying without a will does not save money. It usually costs more, because the estate has to absorb extra steps that a will would have removed. The Estate Administration Tax is the same either way, but the bond, the additional court work, the delays, and the higher risk of a dispute all add up.
Estate Administration Tax
Ontario charges this tax when the court issues a certificate. There is no tax on the first $50,000 of the estate. Above that, the rate is about $15 for every $1,000 of value, which works out to roughly 1.5 percent. An estate worth $500,000 pays about $6,750. An estate worth $1,000,000 pays about $14,250. These figures are current as of 2026 and should be confirmed before you rely on them.
The added cost of no will
- Bond premiums. If the court will not dispense with the administration bond, the estate pays a recurring premium based on its value.
- More legal work. Gathering consents, proving who is entitled, and dealing with the bond all take time that a clean will would have saved.
- Delay. Assets stay frozen until the certificate issues, which can leave a mortgage, bills, and a grieving family waiting months.
- Disputes. With no clear instructions, relatives are far more likely to disagree, and estate litigation is the most expensive outcome of all.
In Ontario, legal fees for a straightforward, uncontested probate application commonly fall in the range of about $2,500 to $5,000, separate from the Estate Administration Tax and disbursements. A contested or complex estate costs more. At our firm we quote a fixed fee upfront, so you know the cost before any work begins, and putting a will in place is a small fraction of what an avoidable court fight would cost your family.
10. With no living relatives, your estate goes to the government
If you die without a will and without any traceable relatives, the chain of inheritance does not stop at a distant cousin. It ends with the Crown. Under the Succession Law Reform Act and the Escheats Act, 2015, an estate with no spouse, no children, no parents, no siblings, no nieces or nephews, and no identifiable next of kin becomes the property of the Government of Ontario.
This is rarer than the other points on this list, but it happens, and it is entirely avoidable. A will lets you direct your estate to the people and causes you care about rather than letting it default to the province. For anyone without close family, a will is not optional planning. It is the only thing standing between your estate and the government.
What to do now
If you take one thing from this article, let it be that a will is the document that puts you back in control. Here is a short checklist to work through.
- Decide who should inherit, in what shares, and name an alternate in case your first choice cannot serve.
- Choose an estate trustee you trust to handle the paperwork, the debts, and the distribution.
- If you have children under 18, name a guardian and consider a trust so their inheritance is released on your timeline, not on their eighteenth birthday.
- If you have a common law partner, a blended family, or a separation that never ended in divorce, treat a will as urgent, because the default rules are most likely to fail you.
- Pair your will with a power of attorney for property and for personal care, so someone you choose can act if you lose capacity while you are alive.
Our wills and estate planning team prepares all of these documents, and we can prepare a power of attorney at the same time so your plan is complete.
Common mistakes we see
These are the assumptions that cost families the most, drawn from the estates we handle.
- Assuming a spouse gets everything. Once there are children, your spouse shares the estate. People are shocked to learn their children become co owners of the family home.
- Believing common law equals married. It does not for inheritance. A long term partner can be left with nothing and a court fight.
- Treating a separation as a divorce. Until a divorce is final, an estranged spouse may still be an heir.
- Forgetting that minors cannot inherit directly. Without a trust, a child’s share goes to court and then arrives in full at 18.
- Putting it off. A will is far cheaper and faster than the cleanup an intestacy forces on your family.
Frequently asked questions
Does my spouse automatically get everything if I die without a will in Ontario?
Only if you have no children. With children, your married spouse receives the first $350,000 of the estate as the preferential share, then shares the rest with your children. With one child the remainder is split equally, and with two or more children your spouse takes one third of the remainder while the children share the other two thirds. A common law partner does not inherit automatically at all.
Does my common law partner inherit if we are not married?
Not automatically. For dividing an estate when there is no will, Ontario law recognizes married spouses only. A common law partner can apply to court for dependant support if they qualified as a dependant, and may bring an unjust enrichment claim, but both routes take time, cost money, and depend on the facts. The only reliable way to provide for a common law partner is a will.
What happens to my house if I die without a will?
It depends on how the home is owned. If you own it jointly with right of survivorship, it usually passes directly to the surviving owner outside the estate. If it is in your name alone, it falls into the estate and follows the intestacy formula, which can mean your spouse and children become co owners and the home may have to be sold to divide the value. This is one of the most common ways an intestacy disrupts a family.
Who looks after my children if both parents die without a will?
No one becomes guardian automatically. A relative or other person has to apply to court under the Children’s Law Reform Act to be appointed, and the court decides based on the best interests of the child. Naming a guardian in a will does not bind the court, but it tells the judge who you trusted and carries real weight in the decision.
How long does it take to settle an estate with no will in Ontario?
Longer than most people expect. Preparing the court application usually takes a few weeks, but processing times in the Greater Toronto Area commonly run several months before the Certificate of Appointment issues. Only then can the estate trustee collect and distribute assets. A straightforward intestate estate often takes close to a year from death to final distribution, and disputes or minor beneficiaries extend that.
Can my family just agree to split things differently?
Adult beneficiaries can sometimes agree to redistribute what they receive among themselves, but they cannot rewrite who is legally entitled, and they cannot give a share to someone the law leaves out, such as a stepchild or a common law partner, without that person having a valid claim. Minors and people who lack capacity cannot agree at all. The cleaner and cheaper answer is always a will that says what you want in the first place.
The information provided above is of a general nature and should not be considered legal advice. Every transaction or circumstance is unique, and obtaining specific legal advice is necessary to address your particular requirements. Therefore, if you have any legal questions, it is recommended that you consult with a lawyer.
