After all the adventures dealing with my grandfather’s estate, I’ve learned more about wills and executors and successors.
After seeing a notary for the “Will Search” results, I got blocked in my tracks. Since my father is a beneficiary of the will (the ones who get the money and stuff after) he is very comfortable passing the executor duties off.
Legally we need the “Will Search” document and a copy of the will to get the money.
Despite the general understanding I was going to handle the estate, we’ve reached the point that requires my father’s involvement.
Only a person named in the will can have access to the will search the notary prepared.
An executor is the person legally responsible for managing an estate after death
In Quebec, when you are named as an executor (it’s called liquidator here), you have certain responsibilities:
Final income taxes
Managing assets
All the other logistical realities that go into someone dying that are related to their life, like vacating their rental unit and paying their bills.
Being an executor does not entitle you to any kind of inheritance. While my father promised me my grandfather’s car to bribe me into this role, legally he doesn’t owe me that.
Though, it does say on the government site the executor, if not an heir/successor, is entitled to remuneration, though the amount is not specified.
The thing about being an executor is you are either named in the will or are appointed by the beneficiaries.
There is an option to refuse the role of executor.
This is something that is especially recommended when the estate has debt.
Despite what my notary told me, you can do this on the cheap and dirty.
Refusing the executor role requires an explicit refusal in writing
Should you decide you do not want the responsibility of dealing with a will, you can refuse it.
All you need to do is write out a document explaining that you don’t want to be the liquidator. It needs to be written, and signed. They recommend using a notary but it also uses the word “may”. This means the use of a notary isn’t required.
The notary I dealt with psyched me out with the notarized refusal letters. I had asked her how I could get the “will search” from her, and that process required the executor's refusal with a notarized letter.
Turns out for me to get this document, the succession has to be passed down.
The thing is she wasn’t trying to hustle me, she was trying to avoid me paying that.
As long as my dad pulls up and gets that document, anyone can become the executor for free.
It’s probably a good idea to keep the letters of refusal, just in case.
Either way an executor not named in the will, is simply an employee of the estate.
There has to be a liquidator for the estate
Turns out that if the will doesn’t name an executor, the heirs become executors, with equal votes. A will can also specify specific responsibilities to specific executors.
If someone does not want to be an executor, they need to replace themselves. This is either by someone named in the will, or someone who is proposed by the person trying to recuse themselves. Either way, the beneficiaries are the board of directors who need to accept the change.
The beneficiaries, or successors as Quebec puts them, are the ones who get the final say in how things are handled.
The only real exception to this is if you are named sole heir/executor. Then you need to pay a notary to refuse the succession or else you are stuck with it. All this is applicable with a will.
If no one is named in a will for the role, and no one claims it, the courts will fill the role.
I never realized creating a will had such an impact on people’s lives before this adventure.
Either way my name’s not in the will.
The “Will Search” is necessary to validate the will
When someone dies in Quebec a process known as a “Will Search” takes place.
There are two main databases in Quebec that need to be checked for all potential wills notarized for the deceased. In theory if you have a copy of a will, there could be a newer version that got made. You can conduct this search on your own, only after you get the death certificate, and it takes weeks.
Or you can pay a notary and they can do the search while you are waiting for the death certificate.
The “Will Search” produces this blue document I caught a glimpse of.
As I walked in, she was like, “Mr. Roy, you are not mentioned anywhere in the will, therefore I cannot give you anything.”
My dad and my aunt are the only authorized people to get the document. Even though the invoice is in my name. Though the estate has to reimburse me for it after.
The reason for this is my grandfather notarized a will that said so.
To be clear, I put in the request so I get the bill.
With the “Will Search” and copy of will comes the estate account and assigned roles
If you do get permission as an executor to manage money, all you get to do is pay bills and give out the inheritance.
Anything else and you can end up in court.
Once you bring the bank the required documents then you can create an estate account. All the money gets transferred into that. You can then pay any outstanding bills.
My grandfather owes Videotron money as they got him with a 2 year contract on a Helix box. He has about 100$ to pay on his credit card. There may be a few other bills that pop up and the estate account would pay those.
The money that’s leftover is what gets distributed to the beneficiaries.
I’m not sure how paying taxes for dead people works to be honest, but I assume the government just wants someone to file and the executor signs off on it.
I really can’t wait for this all to be over and done with.
In the meantime I have to move his car every 3 days to avoid tickets, I really thought I was done with the looking for parking game.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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