Canada Revenue Agency
www.cra.gc.ca
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Legal representative
You are the legal representative of a deceased person if:
- you are named as the executor in the will;
- you are appointed as the administrator of the estate by a court; or
- you are the liquidator for an estate in Quebec.
Notes
As the legal representative, you may wish to appoint an authorized representative to deal with the CRA for tax matters on your behalf. You may do so by completing Form T1013, Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative.
Unless included in your business income, trustee, executor, or liquidator fees paid to you for acting as an executor is income from an office or employment. As the executor, you must report these fees on a T4 slip. For more information see Chapter 1 of the T4001, Employer's Guide - Payroll Deductions and Remittances under the heading, "Employment by a Trustee".
As the legal representative, you should provide us with the deceased's date of death as soon as possible. You can advise us by calling 1-800-959-8281, by sending us a letter or a completed Request for the Canada Revenue Agency to Update Records form. This form is included with our Information Sheet RC4111, Canada Revenue Agency - What to Do Following a Death.
To keep our records up to date, also send us the following information:
- a copy of the death certificate; and
- a complete copy of the will or other legal document such as a grant of probate or letters of administration showing that you are the legal representative.
You must provide the deceased individual's social insurance number with any request you are making or with any information that you are sending to us.
Include this information with the final return if you did not send it right after the deceased's death.
Note
You should also advise Service Canada of the deceased's date of death.
Under the Income Tax Act, as the legal representative, it is your responsibility to:
- file all required returns for the deceased;
- ensure that all taxes owing are paid; and
- let the beneficiaries know which of the amounts they receive from the estate are taxable.
As the legal representative, you are responsible for filing a return for the deceased for the year of death. This return is called the Final return.
You also have to file any returns for previous years that the deceased person did not file. If the person did not leave records about these returns, or if you cannot tell from existing records whether or not the returns were filed, contact us at 1-800-959-8281. If you have to file a return for a year before the year of death, use a T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return for that year. Previous year returns are available on our Web Site, or by calling 1-800-959-2221.
You have to file a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return, for income of the estate earned after the date of death. If the terms of a trust were established by the will or a court order in relation to the deceased individual's estate under provincial or territorial dependant relief or support law, you also have to file a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return for that trust.
Note
You may not have to file a T3 return (not to be confused with the final return, which always has to be filed) if the estate is distributed immediately after the person dies, or if the estate did not earn income before the distribution. In these cases, you should give each beneficiary a statement showing his or her share of the estate. See the T4013, T3 - Trust Guide, for more information and, where a trust is created, to determine whether that return has to be filed. See Chart 2 to find out what income to report on the T3 return.
As the legal representative, you may need information from the deceased person's tax records. Before we can give you this information, we need the following:
- a copy of the death certificate;
- the deceased's social insurance number; and
- a complete copy of the will or other legal document such as a grant of probate, trust agreement, or letters of administration showing that you are the legal representative.
When you write for such information, include the words "The Estate of the Late" in front of the deceased person's name. Include your address so that we can reply directly to you. Send this information to your tax services office or tax centre.
If you make an appointment to see an agent at one of our tax services offices to get information from the tax records of the deceased, you also have to show us one piece of identification with your picture and signature on it, or two pieces with your signature on them.
