5. Fill out the Estate Information Return

Within 180 days of getting the Certificate of Appointment, you must fill out and send an Estate Information Return to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. The return asks for a lot of information about the person and their assets. The Ministry uses this to make sure that you paid the right amount of estate administration tax.

If more estate tax has to be paid, you have to pay it before you file the return. This might happen if you’re selling the house and it sells for more than you thought it would when you filed the application or if you find more assets that you didn’t know about. If these things happen, you have to file an affidavit explaining what happened and pay the additional estate tax.