Letters Probate and Letters of Administration: What Ontario Calls Them Now
Ontario courts stopped issuing Letters Probate and Letters of Administration on January 1, 1995. Both documents were replaced by a single instrument called a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, which the Superior Court of Justice issues either with a will or without a will. The legal effect is the same as it always was: the certificate proves to banks, land registry offices and other third parties that the person named in it has authority to deal with the estate.
What Were Letters Probate and Letters of Administration?
The two documents answered the same question in two different situations. Letters Probate were granted where the deceased left a valid will naming an executor. The grant proved the will and confirmed the executor in office. Letters of Administration were granted where there was no will, and the court appointed an administrator to collect the assets and distribute them under the intestacy rules.
A third variant covered the middle case. Letters of Administration with the Will Annexed were granted where a will existed but no executor was able or willing to act, either because none was named, or because the person named had died, renounced, or could not be found. The administrator took the office, and the will still governed who inherited.
The vocabulary was inherited from English probate practice and had been in use in Ontario for well over a century. It is still current in several other provinces, which is one reason the terms remain in circulation.
What Replaced Them in Ontario?
The Rules of Civil Procedure were amended by Regulations 484/94 and 740/94 under the Courts of Justice Act, effective January 1, 1995. From that date the court no longer issued Letters Probate or Letters of Administration. It issued certificates of appointment instead. Rule 74 was rewritten around the new vocabulary, and its definitions section states directly that a certificate of appointment of estate trustee means letters probate, letters of administration, or letters of administration with the will annexed.
The person changed name at the same time as the document. Executors, administrators and administrators with the will annexed became estate trustees. An administrator is now an estate trustee without a will. A caveat, the old mechanism for warning the court against issuing a grant, became an objection to the issuing of a certificate of appointment.
The transition rule was based on the application date, not the death. The new rules applied to all applications made after January 1, 1995, even where the death had occurred before that date. An estate that opened in 1993 but was not brought to court until 1996 received a certificate, not letters.
Which Old Term Maps to Which Certificate?
| Former document | Situation | Current Ontario equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Letters Probate | Valid will, executor named and acting | Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will |
| Letters of Administration | No will | Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will |
| Letters of Administration with the Will Annexed | Will exists, no executor able or willing to act | Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will |
| Letters Testamentary | Never the name of the ordinary Ontario grant. Used in the United States and some other jurisdictions | Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will |
| Caveat | Warning to the court against issuing a grant | Notice of Objection to the issuing of a certificate of appointment |
Letters Testamentary is worth singling out. It appears constantly in search results because a great deal of online estate content is written for a United States audience. It has never been the name of the ordinary Ontario grant, and asking an Ontario registrar for Letters Testamentary will not produce anything. The phrase does appear in Ontario legislation dealing with grants made elsewhere, which is a different use of the words.
Are Letters Probate Issued Before 1995 Still Valid?
Yes, and this is the answer most people arriving at this question actually need. Letters Probate and Letters of Administration issued before December 31, 1994 continue to be acceptable for registration under the Registry Act as a general registration, and under the Land Titles Act as evidence of authority when attached to a transmission application or a survivorship application. An estate trustee holding a 1991 grant does not need to return to court to convert it into a modern certificate.
Land registry staff are directed to accept a certificate of appointment as evidence of authority on its own. They are not required to ask the registrant or the solicitor for an additional statement or affidavit supporting the appointment. The document speaks for itself.
This matters in practice for long-running estates, for property that was never transferred out of a deceased owner's name, and for title searches that turn up a decades-old grant. The old paper is still good.
Why Do the Old Terms Keep Appearing?
Because the statutes were never fully updated. The most consequential example sits in section 61(1) of the Succession Law Reform Act, which sets the limitation period for a dependant support application. It provides that no application may be made after six months from the grant of letters probate of the will or of letters of administration. The court has not granted either document since 1994, but the statutory clock is still described in those terms. In practice the period runs from the issuing of the certificate of appointment.
Other provinces still use the vocabulary. Several Canadian jurisdictions continue to grant probate in the older form, so national content, bank forms and cross-border material keep the terms alive. A reader who finds the phrase in a form or a statute has not found an error.
Everyday speech never moved. People say probate, and lawyers say probate, because it is one word instead of eight. The colloquial usage is fine. It is the formal application that has to use the current name.
Where This Goes Wrong
Asking the court for the wrong document. An application that requests Letters Probate rather than a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will invites a registrar's notice and a delay while it is corrected.
Using a United States template. Forms and precedent language written around Letters Testamentary do not map onto the Ontario estates forms, and adapting them tends to introduce further errors rather than save time.
Assuming an old grant is spent. Treating a pre-1995 grant as expired leads to an unnecessary fresh application, with an unnecessary Estate Administration Tax deposit attached to it.
Assuming the name change altered the substance. It did not. The renaming did not change who may apply, what the court examines, what tax is payable, or what the holder may do once appointed. Anyone told that the 1995 change created new obligations should ask which provision is said to impose them.
If you are holding an older grant, or you are unsure which certificate your situation calls for, our team can tell you in a short conversation. You can book a free call to talk it through. Our guide to the Small Estate Certificate covers the newest member of the family, and our guide on whether you need probate in Ontario if there is a will covers when a certificate is needed at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a certificate of appointment the same thing as letters probate?
Functionally, yes. The Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee replaced Letters Probate and Letters of Administration for all Ontario applications made after January 1, 1995. Rule 74 of the Rules of Civil Procedure defines the certificate as meaning those former grants. The name and the form changed. What the document proves did not.
Does Ontario still issue letters of administration?
No. Since January 1, 1995 the court has issued a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will in place of Letters of Administration. The person appointed is an estate trustee without a will rather than an administrator, although the older word is still widely used in conversation.
What is the difference between letters probate and letters testamentary?
Letters Probate was the Ontario and wider Commonwealth term. Letters Testamentary is a United States term for the equivalent grant and has never been the name of the ordinary Ontario grant, although the phrase appears in Ontario legislation dealing with grants issued elsewhere. Neither is issued in Ontario today. Both correspond to what Ontario now calls a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee With a Will.
Do I need to replace a pre-1995 grant of letters probate?
Generally no. Letters Probate and Letters of Administration issued before December 31, 1994 remain acceptable for registration under the Registry Act and the Land Titles Act. A fresh application is normally only needed where the original estate trustee has died or is unable to continue, or where the grant did not cover the asset now in issue.
Why does the Succession Law Reform Act still say letters probate?
Because that part of the statute was not amended when the court rules changed in 1995. Section 61(1) still measures the six-month dependant support limitation period from the grant of letters probate or letters of administration. The period is understood to run from the issuing of the certificate of appointment.
Is a small estate certificate a form of letters probate?
It is a further variant of the same idea, created much later. Ontario introduced the Small Estate Certificate on April 1, 2021 for estates valued at $150,000 or less. It is a certificate of appointment with a narrower reach, because it gives authority only over the assets listed on it.
This article provides general information about Ontario law and is not legal advice. Speak with a lawyer about your specific circumstances.
