What to Do First When Someone Dies in Nova Scotia

The hours after a death are the worst possible time to be figuring out bureaucratic procedures. But a few decisions made in the first 48 hours will determine how smoothly the next six months unfold. Get these right and you protect yourself legally. Get them wrong and you may face personal liability as an executor, angry creditors, or a prolonged court process.

Here is the correct sequence.

Hour One: Find the Will and Identify the Executor

Before anything else, locate the will. This is not just a financial document — in Nova Scotia, the executor named in the will has the legal authority to direct the disposition of the deceased's remains. If no will exists, this authority falls to the next of kin in a defined order: spouse first, then adult children, then adult grandchildren.

A Personal Directive (sometimes called a living will) may have named someone to make healthcare decisions during the person's lifetime. That authority expires the moment the person dies. Only the executor has legal standing over the body and the estate.

If the will is not at home, check safety deposit boxes, with the deceased's lawyer, or at the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society. Some people register their wills with a notary — that registration may show up in their files.

The First 24 Hours: Secure the Property

Once the deceased's remains have been moved to a funeral home and you have identified who is in charge, you need to secure the estate itself:

Change the locks if the property is vacant. An executor has the legal duty to protect estate assets, and an unsecured home creates liability.

Contact the home insurer to notify them of the vacancy. Most standard policies have clauses that reduce coverage if a home is unoccupied beyond a certain number of days. Get this on record immediately.

Remove perishable items and valuables — food, cash, jewelry, and easily portable items should be safeguarded. This is not about distrust of family members; it is about your legal obligation as executor.

Secure firearms. If the deceased owned firearms, you must take immediate responsibility for their safekeeping. Contact the local RCMP detachment if you are unsure of the legal steps. Improper handling of a firearms estate is a criminal matter.

Notify the bank. Contact the deceased's financial institutions and ask them to flag the accounts. This prevents unauthorized withdrawals and automated bill payments from draining estate funds. Banks will typically allow funds to be released directly to a funeral home to cover burial expenses against an official invoice — even before probate — which matters enormously for families facing immediate cash pressure.

The First Week: Get the Right Documentation

The funeral director will register the death with Nova Scotia Vital Statistics and provide you with a Funeral Director's Proof of Death. This document is often sufficient to cancel provincial services, close basic bank accounts, and stop most subscriptions.

However, some institutions — federal pension administrators, land registry, or complex financial accounts — will demand the official Death Certificate from Nova Scotia Vital Statistics. There are two types:

• Short Form Death Certificate — $33.00. Sufficient for most standard agency notifications.
• Long Form Death Certificate — $39.90. Required for property transfers and some pension claims. You must prove you are the executor or next of kin to obtain this.

Order both. The cost difference is minor; the delay of going back to Vital Statistics for a second certificate is not.

Agency Notifications to Start Immediately

While you are organizing the documentation, begin notifying government agencies. Each of these has its own deadline or risk:

Service Canada — Cancel Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement benefits. Overpayments become debt that the estate must repay. At the same time, apply for the CPP Death Benefit — a one-time lump sum of up to $2,500 payable to the estate. This money can offset funeral expenses and should be applied for within 60 days.

Nova Scotia MSI — Cancel the deceased's provincial health card by mailing a cover letter, the proof of death, and your identification to MSI Registration and Enquiry, or by calling their toll-free line.

Access Nova Scotia — Cancel the driver's licence and handle the vehicle permit. You may be eligible for a refund of unused registration fees. If you are transferring a vehicle to a beneficiary, there is a $13.20 transfer fee, and the beneficiary can avoid sales tax by having the executor submit a Sworn Statement for the Inheritance of a Used Motor Vehicle in Nova Scotia.

Canada Revenue Agency — Notify CRA of the death to halt benefit payments such as the GST/HST credit or Canada Child Benefit that may have been flowing to the deceased.

Do You Need Probate?

This question comes up in the first week, and the answer determines your entire workload for the next six months. Probate is required whenever the deceased held solely owned assets — most commonly real estate or bank accounts without named beneficiaries or joint ownership.

Assets held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship transfer directly to the surviving owner without going through the estate. RRSPs, TFSAs, and life insurance policies with named beneficiaries also bypass probate entirely.

If the deceased owned property in their name alone, or had bank accounts above the threshold a particular bank requires for probate, you will likely need a Grant of Probate from the Nova Scotia Probate Court. There is no general "small estates" exception in Nova Scotia that lets private individuals bypass this process — a common misconception. The Public Trustee can administer intestate estates worth under $25,000, but this is not the same as a general exemption.

What Comes Next

Once the funeral is arranged and the immediate tasks above are underway, you are moving into the probate preparation phase: gathering financial records, calculating the estate's gross value, preparing the probate application (Form 8 if there is a will, Form 9 if there is not), and advertising the estate in the Royal Gazette Part I — a six-month mandatory notice period that begins once the Grant is issued.

The Nova Scotia estate settlement process is a six-month minimum undertaking, often longer. The decisions you make in the first week set the tone for everything that follows.

The Nova Scotia Estate Settlement Guide walks through every phase in sequence — from the first 48-hour checklist through probate court filings, tax returns, and final distribution — with the exact forms, fees, and deadlines you need to stay compliant and avoid personal liability as executor.

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