Public Trustee New Brunswick: When They Get Involved in an Estate

The Office of the Public Trustee of New Brunswick is a provincial government agency that steps in to administer estates when no one else is available or capable of doing so. Most families never need to interact with this office. But when they do, understanding what the Public Trustee can and cannot do — and what the 2026 legislative changes now allow — makes the difference between weeks and months of administrative delay.

What the Public Trustee Does

The Public Trustee is a neutral, court-appointed administrator of last resort. They are not a law firm, a notary, or a private estate service — they are a government office with statutory authority to act as executor or administrator when no private person is willing or able to serve.

The Public Trustee's mandate in New Brunswick covers several distinct situations:

Unrepresented estates: If someone dies without a will and no family member is willing to apply for Letters of Administration, or if the named executor in a will has predeceased the testator or refuses to act, the Public Trustee can step in and administer the estate under the Public Trustee Act.

Estates with no identifiable beneficiaries: If the deceased had no known relatives and no will, the Public Trustee administers the estate. If no claimants come forward within a set period, the estate eventually escheats (passes) to the provincial Crown.

Estates where family disputes prevent administration: If family members are in legal conflict and the estate is stalling, any interested party can apply for the Public Trustee to take over as a neutral administrator.

Small estates under the $25,000 threshold: This is the most practically significant role for ordinary families, particularly since the 2026 legislative amendments.

The 2026 Small Estate Threshold Change

In June 2026, New Brunswick legislation raised the small estate threshold from $3,000 to $25,000. This is a major administrative change that directly affects thousands of families every year.

Under the new rules, the Public Trustee can release estate property valued at $25,000 or less directly to a verified executor without requiring a formal grant of probate from the Probate Court. Before this change, any estate over $3,000 in solely-owned assets technically required court involvement or Public Trustee approval — a threshold so low that it captured almost every estate in the province.

What this means in practice: if the total value of the deceased's solely-owned assets (excluding registered accounts with named beneficiaries, jointly-held property, and assets with direct beneficiary designations) is $25,000 or less, the executor can work directly with the Public Trustee to obtain release of those assets. No Probate Court application, no Letters Probate, no probate tax based on the tiered 2026 fee structure.

This is most relevant for estates where:

• The deceased had a modest bank account balance but no real estate
• The jointly-held home passes automatically to the surviving spouse by right of survivorship (and is therefore not a probate asset)
• The registered accounts (RRSP, TFSA) go directly to named beneficiaries

An executor dealing with a small estate should contact the Office of the Public Trustee directly and inquire about the process for accessing property under the $25,000 threshold. The Public Trustee's office will advise on what "proof of entitlement" documentation is required.

What the Public Trustee Does Not Do

Understanding the limits of the Public Trustee's role prevents misplaced expectations.

They are not a free legal advice service. The Public Trustee does not provide legal guidance to private executors navigating their own estates. If you have been named executor in a will and the estate is above the $25,000 threshold, you must either work through the Probate Court process yourself or hire an estate lawyer.

Their services are not free. When the Public Trustee administers an estate, they charge fees collected from the estate assets. Historically this has included an hourly rate for administration work. These costs reduce what beneficiaries ultimately receive.

They do not advocate for any particular family member. The Public Trustee's duty is to the estate and all its legal beneficiaries, in accordance with the will or the Devolution of Estates Act. They do not take instructions from one sibling over another or favor the surviving spouse's interests over a creditor's claim.

They cannot override the law. If a common-law partner has no automatic inheritance rights under the Devolution of Estates Act (which is the case in New Brunswick under intestacy), the Public Trustee cannot give that partner a share of the estate. The law is the law, and the Public Trustee follows it.

How to Contact the New Brunswick Public Trustee

The Office of the Public Trustee is located in Fredericton and operates under the Department of Justice and Public Safety. Services are available in both English and French, consistent with New Brunswick's status as Canada's only officially bilingual province.

If you are an executor dealing with a small estate under $25,000, gather the following before contacting the office:

• A certified copy of the death certificate (Long Form) from SNB Vital Statistics
• The original will (if one exists)
• A list of the deceased's solely-owned assets and their approximate values
• Evidence of your identity and relationship to the deceased

The Public Trustee's office will assess whether the estate qualifies for direct distribution under the small estate provisions and advise on next steps.

When You Should Not Wait for the Public Trustee

If the estate has assets over the $25,000 threshold or includes real property held solely in the deceased's name, the Public Trustee's small estate process does not apply. You must go through the Probate Court of New Brunswick to obtain Letters Probate or Letters of Administration.

In these circumstances, waiting for the Public Trustee to become involved is a delay strategy that costs time and money. The Probate Court process, while more involved, gives the executor full legal authority to deal with banks, the SNB Land Registry, and all creditors — without the Public Trustee's involvement or fees.

The 2026 probate tax structure for estates above the $25,000 threshold is:

• $200 base fee for estates up to $20,000
• $5 per $1,000 for the portion between $20,000 and $100,000
• $15 per $1,000 for the portion above $100,000

For a typical estate with a modest house and bank accounts totalling $250,000, the probate tax would be approximately $2,650 — a fixed, predictable cost that most executors can manage without professional help if they understand the forms and process.

The Full Settlement Process Beyond the Public Trustee

Whether your estate qualifies for the $25,000 small estate pathway or requires full probate, the executor must still navigate notifications to Service Canada, the CRA, SNB Vital Statistics, and provincial agencies — as well as the tax obligations, creditor claims, and final accounting that precede any distribution to beneficiaries.

The When Someone Dies in New Brunswick — Estate Settlement Guide walks through the complete process from the first 48 hours through to the final CRA Clearance Certificate. It covers the small estate pathway in detail, including how to document proof of entitlement for Public Trustee review, and provides the specific forms, fees, and timelines for every stage of New Brunswick estate administration.

The guide is specifically written for New Brunswick's legal framework — not a generic Canadian template — which means every form number, fee schedule, and statutory deadline in it reflects the province's actual rules as of 2026.

See more New Brunswick guides →