Estate Administration Tax (Probate Fees): After you die, your Estate Trustee may need proof (requested by financial institutions and government agencies) that they are the person authorized to represent your estate. An application for Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee with (or without) a Will (Probate) is the process that provides court certification of this fact. In Ontario, the fees (officially called an estate administration tax) equal almost 1.5% of your estate’s value at the date of your death. It should be noted that your debts (other than any mortgage registered against your real estate property) and other costs, such as funeral and related expenses, are not deducted from this value for the purposes of calculating the estate administration tax. Generally speaking, assets that have a designated beneficiary or are held jointly with right of survivorship are not part of your estate for the purposes of calculating the tax. 2. Income Tax on Capital Gains: At death, you are deemed to have sold all your capital property. Your estate must pay the income tax liability on any capital gains that occur due to this deemed disposition. 3. Income Tax on Tax-Sheltered Savings Plans: Generally speaking, the value of the RRSP or RRIF at the date of death of the annuitant is included in the income of the deceased for the tax return for the year of death. However, income tax may be deferred if the beneficiary of the RRSP, RRIF, or estate is the spouse or common law partner, a financially dependent child/grandchild under the age of 18 or a financially dependent and mentally or physically infirm child/grandchild of any age. There are conditions which must be satisfied to qualify for the deferral.