Quebec Bereavement Checklist: Steps to Take in the First 30 Days After a Death

The 30 days after a death in Quebec involve more administrative decisions than most people expect — and several of them have hard deadlines that permanently affect money you may be entitled to. The processes here are specific to Quebec's civil law system, which operates differently from every other Canadian province.

This checklist is organized by urgency. The items in the first week carry the heaviest time pressure.

Days 1 to 3: Immediate Triage

Arrange the funeral and request the attestation of death. The funeral home files the declaration of death with the Directeur de l'état civil (DEC) and provides an attestation of death. This attestation is not the official provincial death certificate, but it is sufficient for several immediate actions.

Determine the cause of death. This is not a formality — it determines which benefit agency governs the most valuable survivor payments:

• Death from a workplace accident or occupational illness → CNESST
• Death from a motor vehicle accident on a public road → SAAQ
• All other deaths → Standard Retraite Québec/QPP track

If CNESST or SAAQ applies, the benefit amounts are dramatically larger than QPP. CNESST provides a minimum spousal lump-sum of $136,021; SAAQ starts at $172,914. Do not default to Retraite Québec without checking whether the cause of death routes you elsewhere.

Secure the physical property. If the deceased lived alone, change the locks or ensure the property is secured. Notify the homeowner's or renter's insurance that the property is now vacant — most policies require notification within a short period of vacancy or coverage may be affected.

Locate financial documents. Gather recent bank statements, investment account documents, tax returns, pension statements, and any insurance policies. Look for evidence of named beneficiaries on RRSPs, TFSAs, and life insurance.

Days 3 to 10: Agency Notifications

Submit the simplified forwarding form. The "Application for the simplified forwarding of information relative to the death" notifies multiple provincial agencies simultaneously: Retraite Québec, RAMQ, SAAQ, Revenu Québec, and others. The funeral director can initiate this, or you can submit it online. Submitting this stops QPP payments, preventing overpayments the estate will later have to repay.

Contact Service Canada for federal benefits. Call 1-800-277-9914 to notify Service Canada about the death. This stops OAS, GIS, and CPP payments to the deceased and opens the file for any federal survivor benefits. If the surviving spouse is between 60 and 64 with low income, ask specifically about the OAS Allowance for the Survivor (up to $1,682.15 per month in 2026).

Initiate the QPP death benefit application. The 60-day priority window for the person who paid the funeral expenses starts now. Use Form B-042 from Retraite Québec and attach the funeral receipts and the attestation of death. The official DEC death certificate is not required for this initial application.

Cancel RAMQ coverage. Return or destroy the deceased's health insurance card within three months. Do this early — set a reminder if needed. Notify RAMQ in writing with the person's name, health insurance number, date of birth, and date of death.

Days 10 to 20: Will and Estate Triage

Order the official death certificate from the DEC. The Directeur de l'état civil will take 30 to 45 business days from the date of death to process your order. Order immediately, and order multiple copies — at minimum 5 copies of the Copy of the Act of Death. Each copy costs roughly $36 to $52. The estate cannot proceed formally without these documents.

Conduct the mandatory will search. Even if you know where the will is, Quebec law requires a formal search of both the Chambre des notaires and Barreau du Québec registries. The unified portal is at barreau.qc.ca/en/wills-mandates/search. Fees are approximately $17 to $60 depending on processing speed. Allow 2 to 3 weeks for results.

Determine will type. If the will search reveals a notarial will, you will bypass court verification and can proceed directly once the DEC documents arrive. If the will is holograph (handwritten) or witnessed, plan for a verification (homologation) process that typically costs $1,500 to $5,000 and takes several weeks.

Inventory joint bank accounts. If you shared accounts with the deceased, notify the bank of the death. Under Bill 2, a surviving spouse has a legal right to their proportional share of any joint accounts even before the succession is settled. Go in person to invoke this right — do not wait for the bank to volunteer it.

Days 20 to 30: Benefit Applications and Planning

Apply for Retraite Québec surviving spouse pension. Contact Retraite Québec at 1-800-463-5185. You will need the attestation of death to open the file, and the official death certificate once it arrives to complete the application. Retraite Québec only pays retroactive amounts for 11 months prior to the application date — every month of delay is money permanently lost.

Check for CNESST or SAAQ claims. If the death was work-related or traffic-related, contact the relevant agency immediately. CNESST has a 6-month filing deadline. SAAQ has a 3-year deadline. Do not wait to gather complete documentation before making initial contact — file a preliminary claim now.

Locate life insurance policies. Contact the insurance company directly if you know of a policy, or check for automatic enrollment through the deceased's employer (group life insurance through a benefits package is common and frequently overlooked). Named beneficiaries on life insurance receive proceeds outside the succession — these are often the fastest-moving funds.

Plan for the DEC documents' arrival. Once the Official Act of Death arrives in week five or six, the formal succession process can begin: presenting documents to banks, engaging a notary for the succession (if needed), and initiating the will verification process for non-notarial wills.

What Comes After Day 30

The first 30 days are triage. Months two through twelve involve the formal succession — will verification if required, inventory, RDPRM filings, tax returns, and the long wait for tax clearance certificates. The CRA TX19 clearance certificate currently takes approximately 14 months.

The Quebec Survivor Benefits Navigator covers the complete 18-month process from this first week through to the final estate distribution, with checklists, forms, deadlines, and agency contact information for every step of the Quebec civil law succession process.

See more Quebec guides →