What to do after a death in Quebec — the full list, in order

Twelve priority steps, then fourteen tasks for the liquidator. Here is what has to be done after a death in Quebec, in the order it has to be done, and which of them we carry for you. No sign-up is needed to read this page.

The twelve priority steps

These happen in the days following the death, before the estate really opens. We carry several of them at no extra charge — it is noted each time.

1. Check whether a particular situation applies to the death. A death referred to the coroner, one that occurred abroad, or one whose circumstances remain to be established follows a schedule that is not yours. Check this first: it governs everything else.
2. Arrange the funeral. If no prearrangement exists, this is the most urgent decision — and the only one that cannot wait. Ask for prices in writing before signing anything.
3. Access the funds in a joint account. The deceased's accounts are frozen at death. A joint account generally remains accessible to the surviving co-holder. That is often what pays the first costs.
4. Arrange time off work. Check what your collective agreement, your employer and the law provide. Take it: what follows demands availability, and so does grief.
5. Declare the death and obtain the official proofs. The funeral business produces the declaration of death and the attestations. The death certificate and the copy of the act come from the Registrar of Civil Status. We make both requests for you.
6. Cancel health insurance and prescription drug insurance. Health insurance card and prescription drug plan. We take care of this in every one of our packages.
7. Notify the government departments and agencies. Social insurance number, driver's licence, passport, housing allowance, hunting and firearms possession licences, GST and QST accounts, Retraite Québec pension, allowances from the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity, notices to Revenu Québec and the Canada Revenue Agency. We take care of this as well.
8. Notify the landlord if the deceased was a tenant. The lease does not end on its own. Notify the landlord in writing and keep a copy: it is a date that matters to the estate.
9. Search for the will. Two registers to query: the Chambre des notaires and the Barreau du Québec. A notary can make that request from an attestation of death that we produce; if you do it yourself, you will have to wait for the act of death from the Registrar of Civil Status. That is often several weeks of difference.
10. Accept or renounce the succession. An estate can be insolvent. Take no step that would count as acceptance before you have seen the inventory — that is precisely what the inventory exists to establish.
11. Return unused or expired medication. To the pharmacy, which disposes of it at no charge. Do not throw it out and do not keep it.
12. Check what money you may be able to claim. The Quebec Pension Plan death benefit, surviving spouse's pension, orphan's pension, private pension plans, insurance. We make the death benefit application for you, at no charge.

What we do for you, at no extra charge

In every one of our packages, from direct cremation to a complete funeral, all of the following is included in the price shown:

• Declaration of death and five official attestations of death
• Cremation or burial request and authorizations
• Ordering the death certificates and the act of death from the Registrar of Civil Status
• The Quebec Pension Plan death benefit application and the official receipt for funeral expenses paid
• Cancellations: health insurance card, social insurance number, driver's licence, housing allowance, hunting and firearms possession licences, passport, GST and QST accounts, Retraite Québec pension, allowances from the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity
• Notices to Revenu Québec and to the Canada Revenue Agency
• Secure Estate Assistance platform: follow the file in real time, more than thirty letter templates for settling the estate, and grief resources

This is the part of the work everyone underestimates, and the part that exhausts families who take it on alone. See our packages and their prices.

The liquidator's fourteen tasks

These begin once the funeral is settled and often stretch over months. The liquidator — what used to be called the executor — carries them out on behalf of all the heirs.

1. Record the liquidator's name
2. Give notice of the death
3. Identify and contact the heirs
4. Draw up the inventory of the deceased's property
5. Publish the notice of closure of inventory
6. Open a bank account in the name of the estate
7. Close the deceased's accounts
8. Partition the family patrimony
9. File the deceased's income tax return
10. Obtain a certificate authorizing the distribution of the estate's property
11. Pay the deceased's debts
12. Produce the final account of the estate and distribute the property
13. Transfer ownership of immovable property
14. Publish the final account of the estate

These fourteen tasks are not ours to perform: they belong to the liquidator, usually with a notary alongside. What we supply are the documents and the letter templates needed for each of them, in the Estate Assistance platform included in every one of our packages.

Where to check for yourself

• Chambre des notaires du Québec — will search request
• Barreau du Québec — search for a will or a protection mandate
• Retraite Québec — first steps on a death, death benefit, surviving spouse's and orphan's pensions

These bodies are the official source and their procedures change. This page describes what we see every week; where the two differ, they are right.

And afterwards?

Allow yourself to talk about the loss, with family or with people close to you. Needing to come back to it repeatedly is normal — everyone grieves at their own pace, and it matters to respect other people's as much as your own.

The administrative file closes long before the grief settles. That is one of the traps of this period: once the paperwork is done, everyone around you assumes it is over. It is not over. Our grief resources stay available, and they cost nothing.

Online Funeral Services.ca — Peace of mind at the best price.

Funeral services business holding licence 25FUN0002, issued by Santé Québec, and registered in Quebec under enterprise number (NEQ) 1180480882. Funeral transporter authorized by the Office of the Chief Coroner of Quebec. This page is provided as general information and does not constitute legal advice; for a complex estate, consult a notary.