Changes to Ontario Probate Form 74J
Form 74J Application for a Certificate or Confirmation of Appointment of Estate Trustee replaces:
- Form 74.21 Application for Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee with a Will
- Form 74.21.1 Application for Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee with a Will Limited to the Assets Referred to in the Will
- Form 74.24 Application for Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee without a Will
- Form 74.20.1 Application for Certificate of Appointment as a Foreign Estate Trustee’s Nominee as Estate Trustee without a Will
- Form 74.30 Application for Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee During Litigation
- Form 74.27 Application for Confirmation by Resealing of Appointment or Certificate of Ancillary Appointment of Estate Trustee
These variations of the Certificate or Confirmation of Appointment of Estate Trustee are all consolidated into a single form now, resulting in the following notable changes compared to the prior versions that were in effect until January 1, 2022.
Initial Information:
In the same vein as Form 74A Application for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, the filer’s information is moved to the end of the application. The first paragraph lists the applicants themselves, rather than the person filing on their behalf.
Since Form 74J consolidates various situations into a single form, the applicants will check the box that applies to their situation.
Part 1 – Information about the Deceased
As in Form 74A, Form 74J has a field for whether the deceased resided in Ontario, and another for whether the deceased owned property in Ontario. Previously, the application asked whether the deceased owned real property in Ontario only in the event that he or she did not reside within the province.
Part 2 – Particulars of First Certificate
Since this form now consolidates different conditions and variations of the application, Part 2 details the Particulars of the First Certificate. This part should only be completed if applying for a Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee — otherwise, we recommend entering N/A into these fields.
Part 3 – Particulars of Foreign Certificate or Primary Certificate or Grant
Likewise, Part 3 should only be completed if applying for a Certificate of Appointment of Foreign Estate Trustee’s Nominee as Estate Trustee without a Will, Confirmation by Resealing of Appointment, or a Certificate of Ancillary Appointment of Estate Trustee with a Will. Previously, the applicants would fill out a different form for each situation.
Again, should these fields be inapplicable, we recommend entering N/A as your response.
Part 4 – Value of Estate Assets
The Value of Estate Assets section does not contain any changes with regard to the previous versions of the application. However, due to the nature of this new Form 74J which consolidates various situations, this section now includes the clarifications that:
- If applying for a Certificate of Appointment of Succeeding Estate Trustee, only the undistributed assets should be listed.
- Otherwise if applying for a Certificate of Appointment of Foreign Estate Trustee’s Nominee as Estate Trustee without a Will, Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee During Litigation, Confirmation by Resealing of Appointment or a Certificate of Ancillary Appointment of an Estate Trustee with a Will, only those assets located in Ontario should be listed.
Part 5 – Entitlement to Apply
Again, as a result of consolidating multiple situations into a single form, this section requires either a reason as to the applicant’s entitlement, or details regarding the court order (name of the judge and date of the court order).
Applicants’ Information
Each applicant’s information must be included. Additionally, this section now includes fields for the applicants’ email address and phone number.
The filer’s information is now provided in this section; previously, it was provided in the first paragraph of the application. That first paragraph now references the applicants themselves instead.
Affidavits
Each applicant should sign an affidavit on a separate page. These can be executed in person or remotely.
Backpage
No changes have been communicated with regard to the format of the backpage, or as to whether they continue to be required with every court form.
