What Happens to a Bank Account When Someone Dies in Canada

Canada recorded 326,779 deaths in 2024, according to Statistics Canada (opens in a new tab). Most of them left a bank account for someone else to deal with, usually a partner or an adult child who has never done it before.

Here’s what happens to a bank account when someone dies in Canada. As soon as the bank is told, it freezes every account in that person’s name alone. A joint account usually passes straight to the other holder, except in Quebec. Everything else waits for the executor, or for someone appointed by a court if there’s no will.

What happens to a bank account when someone dies?

The bank freezes it. Once it learns of the death, no one can withdraw from an account that was in the deceased’s name alone, not a spouse, not a child, and not the person who held their power of attorney. The money now belongs to the estate, and the bank releases it only to the person with legal authority to settle that estate.

What the bank asks for

The first visit is mostly paperwork. TD’s checklist (opens in a new tab) is typical: photo ID for each executor, a proof of death (the funeral director’s statement of death, or a provincial death certificate), and the original or a notarial copy of the will. In Quebec, the bank may also ask for the results of a will search.

Does the bank need probate?

Often, but not always. Probate is the court’s confirmation that the will is valid and the executor can act. Quebec doesn’t require it for a notarial will. Elsewhere, British Columbia’s government (opens in a new tab) notes that most organizations have a maximum amount they’ll transfer without it. No major bank publishes that number, and RBC’s own account agreement (opens in a new tab) says the documents it asks for are at its “absolute discretion”.

In Ontario, an estate worth $150,000 or less can use the cheaper Small Estate Certificate (opens in a new tab). Once probate is granted, banks generally release the money within one to four weeks, according to BMO (opens in a new tab). Probate fees by province are in our guide to what to do when you inherit money.

The funeral bill is the usual exception

Banks will often pay the funeral home directly from the frozen account. TD says its first priority is immediate needs “such as funeral costs, which may be paid from the Estates funds”, and BMO lists paying funeral expenses among the help it offers. Bring the funeral home’s invoice to the branch. If the account can’t cover it, see our guide to what a funeral costs and who pays for the help each province offers.

Who can get the money out?

It depends on whether the account was joint, whether there’s a will, and which province the person lived in.

Quebec is different here. If no liquidator was named, the role falls to the heirs (opens in a new tab) by law, and a court gets involved only if they can’t agree.

Can you withdraw money from a deceased person’s account?

No. A power of attorney ends at death, which Ontario’s estate guide (opens in a new tab) states in one sentence: “Powers of Attorney end when you die.” Quebec’s rule is the same. Having the card and the PIN doesn’t change that. Once the person has died, their money belongs to the estate, and only the executor, administrator or liquidator can deal with it.

It matters even when the money goes to good use. The executor has to account for every dollar in the estate, and a withdrawal made before they were in charge is one they’ll have to explain to the heirs. If a bill can’t wait, ask the bank to pay it from the account, the way it would a funeral invoice.

What happens to a joint bank account when one person dies?

Outside Quebec, the money usually belongs to the other holder right away. Most Canadian joint accounts are held with a right of survivorship: when one holder dies, the other owns the whole balance, it skips the estate, and probate isn’t needed. RBC’s account agreement sets up joint accounts this way.

Adding an adult child is different

If a parent added an adult child to their account to help with bills, the money might not be the child’s to keep. In Pecore v. Pecore (opens in a new tab) (2007), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that when a parent puts money in a joint account with an adult child, the law presumes the child holds it for the estate. The child keeps it only if the parent meant it as a gift. When siblings disagree about a joint account, this is often why. The rule comes from the common law, so it applies outside Quebec.

Quebec works differently

Quebec’s civil law doesn’t hand the account to the survivor. Banks there used to freeze joint accounts until the estate was settled, which could take months. Since a December 2022 law, a spouse who is the only other holder of a chequing or other demand deposit account can ask the bank in writing for their share. It applies to married, civil union and de facto spouses, and to ex-spouses. The split is half each, unless the two of them filed a different split with the bank beforehand, as Quebec’s government (opens in a new tab) explains.

That law covers spouses only. A Quebec joint account shared with an adult child, a sibling or a friend isn’t covered, so the deceased’s share goes through the estate.

What happens to a bank account when someone dies without a will?

The account goes into the estate like any other, and provincial law decides who inherits it. The spouse usually comes first, but how much they get, and whether a common-law partner counts, changes a lot between provinces.

Sources: Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act (opens in a new tab) and its regulation (opens in a new tab), BC’s Wills, Estates and Succession Act (opens in a new tab), Alberta’s Wills and Succession Act (opens in a new tab), and Quebec’s distribution table (opens in a new tab). With no children, the spouse inherits everything in the other three provinces. In Quebec, the deceased’s parents get a third, or their brothers and sisters if both parents have died.

In Quebec, the share is calculated after the couple’s family patrimony is divided. A de facto spouse inherits nothing without a will, unless the couple is in a parental union (opens in a new tab), which starts when de facto spouses have or adopt a child on or after June 30, 2025.

The bigger cost of having no will is time. Outside Quebec, the bank can’t release anything until a court appoints an administrator, and getting that appointment takes time. A CIBC poll by Ipsos (opens in a new tab), released in June 2026, found that only 52% of Canadians aged 30 to 85 have one.

What happens to pension and benefit payments after a death?

Federal payments made after the month of death have to go back. The estate keeps the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments for the month the person died (opens in a new tab), and any later payment is returned. When they were deposited directly, the bank can return them to the government for you.

The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (opens in a new tab), which replaced the GST/HST credit, stops at death too. A payment issued after it has to be returned. If the payment included an amount for the surviving spouse, the CRA recalculates the spouse’s benefit on its own.

Leaving these deposits in the account doesn’t make them the estate’s. Returning them early saves the executor a repayment later.

What if nobody claims the account?

It goes to the Bank of Canada. A bank account with no activity for 10 years, whose owner the bank can’t reach, is sent to the Bank of Canada’s unclaimed balances service (opens in a new tab). A balance under $1,000 is held for 30 years, and $1,000 or more for 100 years. Heirs can claim it, so if a relative died years ago, it’s worth a search. Our guide to finding unclaimed money in Canada covers that search and the provincial ones.

A little savings in your own name

The freeze lands hardest on the person who shared a life with the deceased. If both paycheques went into one person’s account, the partner left behind can have the rent due and no access to the money. BMO puts the typical estate at nine to 14 months to settle.

A joint account helps outside Quebec. Even more useful is savings in your own name, enough to cover a month or two. Our guide to building an emergency fund shows how to size it. Lodavo is a free app that makes building it a bit more rewarding. You connect the savings account you already use, and every $25 in it earns a ticket in a weekly draw for a chance to win up to $10,000. Your savings stay at your own bank.

Download Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab).

If the account is in the United States, the rules are different. Our US guide covers payable-on-death accounts and each state’s small-estate limit.

This article is general information, not legal advice. For an estate with a large account, a dispute or a will that’s unclear, a lawyer or a Quebec notary can tell you what applies.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.