Death of a Loved One: The Estate Liquidator's First Steps

The steps to take within the right deadlines — and the two mistakes that can cost you your own money.

Marc is 54. His father died on a Tuesday in November, in a long-term care home in the Outaouais region. In the drawer of the bedside table, he finds a lined sheet of paper, handwritten and signed: “I leave everything to my three children and I name Marc to look after my affairs.” His sister tells him: “You were his favourite — you handle it.” Marc calls the credit union: the account is frozen. He calls the funeral home, which hands him an attestation. He pays for the funeral with his own credit card. Three weeks later, one of his brothers asks for a $5,000 advance on his inheritance, and a bailiff leaves a notice: their father owed money. Marc has not signed anything yet, but he is already becoming the liquidator of the estate.

Before anything else: proof of death and the will search

The document handed over by the funeral home is not legal proof of death. What you need is the copy of the act of death issued by the Directeur de l’état civil, Quebec’s registrar of civil status, once the death has been entered in the register (allow about twenty business days for registration, plus processing time). Online, a copy of the act costs $46.75 with regular service. Order several copies: banks, insurers, pension plans, the court and the public registers will all ask for one.

Next, the will search. Two official registers exist: that of the Chambre des notaires du Québec and that of the Barreau du Québec. A single service window lets you search both at once, upon presentation of the proof of death. Current cost: $30 for an online request, $40 by mail, before taxes, for both registers. Processing times are currently longer than usual. No statute says in so many words “you must conduct this search,” but a liquidator who distributes an estate without having checked whether a later will exists is exposed personally. Treat it as an obligation.

If the will found is holograph (written entirely by hand and signed by the deceased) or made in the presence of witnesses — which includes a will prepared by a lawyer — it must be probated before it can take effect. Probate takes place before the court or before a notary, at your option, and serves to confirm the will’s apparent validity: it does not validate the contents and does not prevent a later challenge. The court fee is $241. A notarial will, by contrast, is an authentic act and does not need to be probated.

The trap: settling an estate on the strength of a sheet of paper found in a drawer. Without the search certificates and without probate, the credit union, the land registry and the buyer of a property will quite simply refuse to deal with you.

Getting yourself recognized: the notice of designation in the RDPRM

The liquidator exercises what is called saisine — a civil law concept meaning the power to hold and administer the property of the estate, in place of the heirs, for as long as the liquidation requires. But third parties still have to know that you are the one.

Article 777 of the Civil Code requires that the liquidator’s designation be published in the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights (RDPRM), and also in the land register when the estate includes real property. In 2026, registration costs $59 on the paper form and $51 electronically. That notice is what opens the doors of financial institutions. Do it early.

You are not obliged to accept the office, by the way: no one is bound to be a liquidator, unless they are the sole heir. If you decline, the heirs appoint one by majority vote, or the court names one. And a liquidator who is not an heir is entitled to remuneration; one who is an heir is entitled to it only if the will so provides or the heirs consent.

The inventory: your best insurance policy

This is the heart of the file. The liquidator must make an inventory of the property and the debts. Once it is done, he publishes its closure in the RDPRM, by way of a notice indicating where the inventory may be consulted, and he also publishes that notice in a newspaper circulated in the locality of the deceased’s last address. He then informs the heirs, the successors and the known creditors.

Why so many formalities? Because the inventory is what separates the deceased’s patrimony from that of the heirs. As long as it is made and published, the heirs are liable for the debts only up to the value of what they receive. Without it, the protection collapses.

Three traps, all costly:

Exempting the liquidator from making an inventory. This is possible only if all the heirs and successors consent — and the price is steep: they then become liable for the debts beyond the value of the property received. For a successor, exempting the liquidator from the inventory moreover amounts to accepting the succession.
Mingling the property. An heir who mixes estate property with his own before the inventory is likewise liable for the debts beyond what he receives. Open a separate account in the name of the estate, from day one.
Letting things drag. A successor has six months from the opening of the succession to accept or renounce, a period extended so as to leave him 60 days from the closure of the inventory. Whoever does not renounce within that period is presumed to have accepted.

Paying in the right order: the tax authorities, the creditors, and only then the heirs

Here is the most frequent mistake, and the most expensive one: paying an advance to an heir before the creditors have been paid. The Civil Code is clear. Where the solvency of the estate is not obvious, the liquidator may pay neither the debts nor the legacies by particular title before the expiry of 60 days from the registration of the notice of closure of the inventory — except utility accounts and genuinely urgent debts. If the property is insufficient, he may pay nothing without first having a payment proposal homologated by the court.

The order is then as follows: prior and hypothecary creditors, other creditors, support creditors, then legatees by particular title. The heirs receive only the residue. A liquidator who pays too quickly, or who overlooks a known creditor, is exposed to a personal liability claim.

The tax authorities do not forgive. The deceased’s income tax returns are due on April 30 of the following year if death occurs between January and October; if it occurs in November or December, the deadline is six months to the day. Above all, nothing is distributed before the clearance certificates are obtained: the certificate authorizing the distribution of property from Revenu Québec (form MR-14.A) and the federal clearance certificate (form TX19). A liquidator who distributes without these certificates becomes personally liable for the unpaid taxes, up to the value of the property distributed — without any need to prove the slightest fault on his part. Revenu Québec does, however, tolerate the payment, before the certificate is issued, of certain urgent expenses not exceeding $12,000, such as funeral costs or heating.

Remember also the death benefit under the Québec Pension Plan: up to $2,500, to be claimed within five years, with priority, during the first 60 days, given to whoever paid for the funeral.

The final account and the discharge

The liquidation ends when the known creditors and legatees by particular title have been paid. The liquidator then renders a final account establishing the net assets or the deficit, with the debts and legacies left unpaid and how they are to be settled. Once this account is accepted, he is discharged from his administration and delivers the property to the heirs. The closure of the account is also published in the RDPRM.

Have this account approved in writing. That document, together with the tax certificates, is what protects you if an heir changes his mind two years later.

Key takeaways

The funeral home’s attestation is not enough: order several copies of the act of death from the Directeur de l’état civil.
Run the search in both will registers and keep the certificates, even if you already have the will in hand.
Publish the notice of designation of the liquidator in the RDPRM without delay: it is what makes your role enforceable against banks and third parties.
Always make the inventory, publish the closure notice, and never agree lightly to an exemption from the inventory: it makes the heirs liable for the debts beyond what they receive.
Pay the creditors before the heirs, respect the 60-day waiting period, and never advance a penny to an heir before the end.
Distribute nothing before you hold the MR-14.A and TX19 certificates: otherwise, your own personal assets answer for the unpaid tax balance.

Death of a Loved One: The Estate Liquidator’s First Steps

Before anything else: proof of death and the will search

Getting yourself recognized: the notice of designation in the RDPRM

The inventory: your best insurance policy

Paying in the right order: the tax authorities, the creditors, and only then the heirs

The final account and the discharge

Key takeaways

Further reading

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