How to Fill Out and File Form 74A: Probate Application in Ontario

Form 74A is Ontario’s Application for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will, and filling it out correctly means working through four stages: collecting the supporting documents, entering the deceased’s and beneficiaries’ details on the form itself, swearing it before a commissioner, and filing it with the Superior Court of Justice along with the Estate Administration Tax. A complete application typically takes about 15 business days to process.¹ This guide on how to fill out Form 74A in Ontario walks through each stage in the order you’ll actually do it.

Gather Your Supporting Documents First

Rule 74.04 of the Rules of Civil Procedure lists what has to accompany Form 74A.² Collect everything before you open the form. A missing item sends the whole package back.

The original will and any codicils. The court needs the physical originals, not copies. Retrieve them from the lawyer or safety deposit box early.
Affidavit of Execution of Will or Codicil (Form 74D), sworn by one of the witnesses to the signing.
Affidavit of Condition of Will or Codicil (Form 74E), describing the physical state of the document, including any staple holes or markings.
A certified death certificate from the Ontario Registrar General or equivalent vital statistics office.
Renunciation and Consent (Form 74G) from anyone with an equal or higher right to be appointed who is stepping aside in your favour.
A draft Certificate of Appointment (Form 74C).
An Information Form cover sheet if you plan to file by email.³

You also need a detailed inventory of what the deceased owned and owed. List all real estate, bank accounts, investments, vehicles, and valuable personal property at their fair market value as of the date of death. A professional appraisal dated to the date of death helps for real estate and other high-value items. Record debts too, including mortgages, lines of credit, and outstanding tax balances, because they feed into the asset and liability statement on the form.

Working Through Form 74A

Form 74A is available as a pre-formatted fillable document from Ontario Court Services.⁴ If you type it from scratch, use 12-point font, double spacing, and a left margin of about 40 millimetres. Most applicants just use the fillable version.

Your Information

Start with your own full legal name and residential address. You are identifying yourself as the person asking to be appointed.

The Deceased’s Information

Enter the deceased’s details exactly as they appear on the death certificate: full legal name, any aliases or former names used in legal or financial documents, date of death, and last residential address. The last address determines which Superior Court of Justice location has jurisdiction.

Declarations About the Will

Declare when the will was made, whether any codicils exist, and the results of your search for later wills. State your relationship to the deceased and your entitlement to be appointed. If someone with a higher or equal right exists but is stepping aside, the Form 74G you collected handles that.

Beneficiaries and Heirs

List every beneficiary named in the will and every person who would inherit if the will were invalid, together with each person’s relationship to the deceased and what they stand to receive. Full legal names and current addresses. This section is one of the most common sources of returned applications. A misspelled name, a wrong address, or a missing heir will stop processing. Cross-check against the will and against what you know of the family.

Assets and Liabilities

Attach the detailed statement of assets and liabilities. The total you declare drives how much Estate Administration Tax you owe. If you don’t have final numbers yet, you can file on an estimated value, but you must give an undertaking to file a sworn statement of the actual value within six months and pay any additional tax owing if the real figure is higher.⁵

Swearing the Form

Once completed, Form 74A becomes an affidavit. Sign it in the presence of a commissioner of oaths, a notary public, or a lawyer authorized to administer oaths in Ontario. Do not sign in advance; the whole point is that the commissioner witnesses your signature and confirms you understand the statements are made under oath. The commissioner signs, dates, and stamps the document.

The same requirement applies to every supporting affidavit in the package. The Affidavit of Execution, the Affidavit of Condition, and the Affidavit of Service each need their own commissioning.

Serving Notice on the Beneficiaries

Before the court will process your application, every beneficiary named in the will and every person who would inherit on an intestacy must be served with notice. You then prove service by filing an Affidavit of Service (Form 74B) or a Lawyer’s Certificate of Service (Form 74B.1) with the application.¹ Identify each person by full legal name and current address. If anyone is skipped, the court’s estate record search will usually catch it.

Filing the Application

File with the Superior Court of Justice in the jurisdiction where the deceased lived. There are three ways to submit:³

By email, using the dedicated address for the relevant court location. Original documents, including the physical will, any codicils, administration bonds, and ancillary certificates, must still arrive on paper by mail, courier, or in person.
By mail or courier, sending the complete package including originals.
In person at the court counter.

Most documents in the package end with a backsheet (Form 4C). Without it, expect the application back. Filing fees, where they apply, can be paid by mail, courier, or by credit card over the phone. The Estate Administration Tax has to be paid in person, by mail, or by courier. It cannot be paid by email.

Estate Administration Tax

The Estate Administration Tax is the main cost of obtaining the certificate and is payable when you file.⁶

Estates valued at $50,000 or less: no tax.
Estates valued over $50,000: $15 for every $1,000 (or part thereof) of the value above $50,000.

Round the estate value up to the nearest thousand. An estate worth $240,000 is taxed on $190,000, which works out to 190 × $15 = $2,850.⁶ If you file on an estimated value, pay the tax on that estimate now and settle the difference once the actual value is known.

When You Need a Bond

Ontario requires an administration bond with your application in certain situations:¹

No will exists, so you are applying as administrator rather than a named executor.
A will exists but does not name you as estate trustee.
You are not resident in Ontario, another Canadian province or territory, or a Commonwealth country.

A judge can waive the bond in appropriate circumstances. If you are the executor named in the will and you live in Ontario, you generally won’t need one.

If the Estate Is $150,000 or Less

Form 74A is not the right form for small estates. If the estate is valued at $150,000 or less, Ontario has a simplified Small Estate Certificate process using Form 74.1A and the 74.1 series of supporting forms.⁴ Some standard forms, including the Affidavit of Execution, still apply. If the value also falls at or below $50,000, no Estate Administration Tax is owed. Confirm the total value before choosing this route; if the estate turns out to exceed $150,000, you’ll have to start over with a full Form 74A application.

After You File

Court staff review the package and run an estate court record search for prior applications, existing certificates, or filed objections. If everything checks out, the registrar issues the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, usually in about 15 business days.¹

If something is wrong, court staff will send a notice. Delays usually come from missing documents or something flagged by the record search, such as a Notice of Objection (Form 75.1) filed by a beneficiary. In that case, serve a notice on the objector (Form 75.3) and file proof of service before the application can move forward. Matters that need a judicial decision go to a judge, who may issue a court order.¹

1
Government of Ontario. Apply for Probate of an Estate
2
Government of Ontario. Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 74
3
Ontario Court Services. Filing Electronic Documents in Probate Proceedings
4
Ontario Court Services. Estate Forms Under Rule 74, 74.1 and 75 of the Rules of Civil Procedure
5
Government of Ontario. Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 74.13
6
Government of Ontario. Estate Administration Tax