When a person dies and the value of their estate is $25,000 or less, and the deceased did not own real property in Saskatchewan that will pass through the estate, you can apply to the Court of King's Bench for an order that the personal property of the deceased be paid or delivered to you as the appointed representative, without the need to obtain letters probate or letters of administration.
The person named in an order shall: pay out of the personal property of the deceased the reasonable funeral expenses of the deceased and the debts of the deceased; and pay over any balance to the beneficiaries or next of kin.
To obtain the court order, the appointed representative will need to complete Application in Small Estates - Memorandum to the Judge - Form 16-36. The person making the court application will be required to pay the Local Registrar Fee of $100.00 as per Table 1 in The Administration of Estates Regulations 2020.
Section 9 of The Administration of Estates Act provides:
- Disposal of property under certain amount without grant
- 9(1) On the application of any person interested, which may be made ex parte unless a judge orders otherwise, a judge may, without granting letters probate or letters of administration, order that the personal property of a deceased person be paid or delivered to a person named by the judge to be disposed of by that person as the judge directs and in accordance with subsection (2), where: (a) the deceased owned no real property in Saskatchewan that will pass through the estate; and (b) the value of the personal property of the deceased does not exceed the amount prescribed in the regulations.
- (2) The person named in an order made pursuant to subsection (1) shall, in accordance with the order: (a) pay out of the personal property of the deceased the reasonable funeral expenses of the deceased and the debts of the deceased; and (b) pay over any balance to the beneficiaries or next of kin.
- (3) A receipt given by a person for personal property received by that person pursuant to an order made pursuant to subsection (1) discharges the person who pays over or delivers the property from liability with respect to that payment or delivery.
- (4) The provisions of this Act with respect to the grant of letters probate or letters of administration and with respect to bonds on administration do not apply to cases in which an order is made pursuant to subsection (1).
Section 7 of The Administration of Estates Regulations 2020 provides:
- Amount for section 9 of the Act
- 7 For the purposes of subsection 9(1) of the Act, the prescribed amount is $25,000.