New Brunswick

New Brunswick has a dedicated Probate Court, with a judge and a registrar in each county. The
executor applies in the county where the deceased lived for letters probate, or, where there is
no will or the named executor will not act, letters of administration. Banks, Service New
Brunswick land registration and investment firms generally will not move assets without the grant.

The statutes

The Wills Act decides whether the will is valid and who takes under it. The Probate Court Act
governs the grant, the administration and the fees.

What gets filed

• The original will, with an affidavit of execution from a witness.
• Proof of death.
• An inventory of the estate's assets and their date-of-death values.
• The application forms and notice to the beneficiaries.

Probate tax

New Brunswick charges a probate tax on the value of the estate, set out in Schedule A of the
Probate Court Act. The rates were increased for applications filed on or after 12 June 2026,
which is a good reminder not to rely on a figure from an older guide — take the current rates from
the Probate Court's schedule. The tax is an estate expense, paid from the estate rather than by the
executor personally.

What passes outside the estate

Property held jointly with right of survivorship, and registered plans or life insurance with a
named living beneficiary, generally pass outside the estate, are not counted for probate tax and do
not need the grant.

Before distributing

Gather the assets, pay debts and taxes, and obtain the Canada Revenue Agency clearance
certificate. An executor who distributes before it arrives is personally exposed for unpaid tax.

Under the Wills Act, a New Brunswick will must be in writing, signed by the testator at its
end, and signed by two witnesses who are present when the testator signs. A holograph will —
wholly in the testator's own handwriting, dated, and signed at the end — is valid with no
witnesses at all.

Valid does not mean sensible

New Brunswick will admit a holograph will to probate. What it cannot do is supply the residue clause
you left out or the alternate executor you never named. A homemade will is also the format that most
often reaches the Probate Court as a dispute rather than an application.

The witness who inherits

A gift to a witness, or to a witness's spouse, fails while the will itself stands. Use two neutral
witnesses with nothing to gain — this is the most common defect in a do-it-yourself New Brunswick
will.

Marriage, separation and divorce

Changes in relationship status affect how a will operates, and the Marital Property Act gives a
surviving spouse rights that sit alongside the will. Do not assume an old will still does what you
intended after a marriage, a separation or a divorce.

Practical points

• Name an alternate executor. Executors predecease, decline, and become unable to act.
• Review after any death, birth, property purchase, or move to another province.
• Say where the original is kept and tell the executor. A copy will not obtain a grant.
• If you own property in both official languages' jurisdictions or outside the province, mention it
  to the drafter — assets elsewhere can need a separate grant.

Without a will, the Devolution of Estates Act decides who inherits and the Probate Court appoints
an administrator.

Yes. A New Brunswick executor is entitled to be paid for administering the estate, and it is
normal that they are.

The standard

Where the will does not fix a figure, the executor is entitled to fair and reasonable
compensation under the Trustees Act. There is no rigid tariff. In practice a percentage of the
estate is used as a starting point — commonly in the range of three to five per cent, and often
expressed as a percentage of capital plus a percentage of income collected — and the result is then
tested against what is actually fair given the size of the estate, the time spent, the
responsibility assumed, the skill required, the complexity and the outcome.

How it gets approved

Compensation must be agreed by the beneficiaries or approved by the Probate Court when the
executor passes accounts. Agree it in writing before taking it. An executor who pays themselves and
mentions it later invites an objection and a court application, which the estate then pays for
twice.

Where a beneficiary cannot consent

If a beneficiary is a minor or cannot manage their affairs, consent is unavailable and the executor
should expect to pass accounts formally.

If the will sets a figure

The will governs, provided the executor accepts the appointment on those terms. A legacy left to the
executor may be intended in place of a fee — read the wording before assuming both are available.

Tax

Executor compensation is taxable income; an inheritance is not. Where the executor is also a
beneficiary, taking a larger share rather than a fee is often better after tax. Ask an accountant
before deciding.

A New Brunswick executor is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable out-of-pocket costs of
administering it. Reimbursement is separate from, and additional to, compensation for the executor's
time.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, and a reception proportionate to the estate.
• Probate tax, Probate Court filing fees and certified death certificates.
• Legal fees for the application, and accounting fees for the final T1 and any T3 trust return.
• Service New Brunswick land registration searches, transfers and registrations.
• Appraisals of real property, woodlots, vehicles, jewellery and collections.
• Carrying costs on estate property until it sells: insurance, property tax, utilities, security,
  maintenance, lawn care and snow clearing.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping the contents of a residence.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate — mileage, ferries, parking.
• Postage, couriers, bank charges and bond premiums where the court requires a bond.

Normally not claimable

• The executor's lost wages, meals near home, or personal costs. Compensation covers those.
• Costs incurred for one beneficiary's convenience rather than for the estate.
• Improvements to a property beyond what is needed to sell it in its condition.
• Anything the executor cannot document.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account as soon as the grant issues and run every payment through it, and keep
a dated log of time and mileage from the first week. The executor must account to the beneficiaries
and, if accounts are passed, to the Probate Court. Receipts and a contemporaneous log are the whole
of the defence.

Not required — most New Brunswick estates are administered by a family member. A trust company or a
lawyer acting as executor is worth the cost in specific situations.

Consider a professional when

• The estate holds an operating business, a farm, a woodlot operation or rental property that has
  to keep running while the estate is settled.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a challenge to the will looks likely.
• A beneficiary is a minor or an adult who cannot manage money, so a trust runs for years and the
  Public Trustee becomes involved.
• The named executor lives outside New Brunswick or outside Canada. A non-resident executor can be
  required to post a bond, sometimes an expensive one, and a non-resident trustee carries real tax
  consequences.
• Assets sit in more than one province or country — a summer property in another province may need
  its own grant and its own probate levy.
• The obvious candidate is grieving, elderly, unwell, or simply does not want the job.

What it costs

Trust companies charge a negotiated percentage, broadly comparable to what an individual executor
would be allowed, often with a minimum fee that makes small estates uneconomic. Ask for the schedule
in writing before appointing anyone.

Middle options

• Appoint a family member and let them retain a lawyer and an accountant at the estate's expense.
  This is the usual arrangement and it works.
• Appoint a family member jointly with a trust company.
• Name a professional as the alternate, in case the family executor cannot act.

An executor who does not want the job can renounce, but only before intermeddling in the estate.
Once they have begun to act, the option is gone.