If the estate requires Probate, the first document you submit to the court will require you to estimate the value of the deceased person’s estate at the time of their death. In many cases, assets may have been sold or money received into the estate after the person died, but for the purposes of calculating the value of the estate for Probate, you only include the assets as at the time of death.

The first estimate is broken into two parts: Real Property (meaning land) and Personal Property (meaning everything else).

Calculating the Value of Real Property (Land)

The first step is to calculate the value of any land owned by the deceased person. If you know the fair market value of the property, you can use that. If not, you can use the most recent tax assessment. Subtract any mortgage owing, or other amounts secured against the property (eg. Secured lines of credit, recorded judgements).

Remember, land owned in Joint Tenancy does not become part of a person’s estate. Ownership of land held in Joint Tenancy automatically transfers to the other owner(s) at the moment of the person’s death. (This is the most common scenario when spouses own land together) If the deceased person owned land as Tenant in Common with someone else then you only include the value of their percentage in the estimate. Ownership is divided evenly amongst the owners if no specific percentages are outlined in the deeds.

Calculating the Value of Personal Property

The second step is to estimate the value of the deceased person’s personal property.

Money

Do your best to obtain recent bank statements which would show the balance of any accounts held by the person. Remember, much like property held in Joint Tenancy, any funds held with a named beneficiary do not enter into the deceased person’s estate. Those funds go directly to the named beneficiary without passing through the estate. You do not include those amounts in the value of the estate. If you aren’t able to obtain statements with the exact amounts, you can include an estimate if you have an idea of how much is in the bank. If you have no idea, don’t worry, once you are appointed by the court as the personal representative, you will have the authority to see the bank records and can submit the up to date information on the formal inventory that is filed after Probate is opened.

Personal Items

You will want to include an estimate of the value of the person’s personal items like clothing and jewelry, as well as household items like art, furniture, electronics, hobby equipment (sports equipment, fishing gear, woodworking tools). Remember if the items were owned jointly with a spouse, those items are not included, as again, they would remain property of the surviving spouse. No one expects these numbers to terribly precise. You are just giving the court an estimate. If an elderly person died, leaving a surviving spouse who would retain ownership of the furniture etc., an estimate for the value of their used clothes, jewelry and personal items may be something like $500.

Vehicles

Vehicles are included in the ‘personal property’ section. Vehicles include anything that can be registered such at cars/trucks/motorcycles, ATVs, watercraft, trailers and RVs. Do your best to estimate the current value of the vehicles. If you have no idea what the vehicle is worth you can try looking it up on a website like Autotrader.ca or Kellybluebook.ca. If there is any financing directly tied to the vehicle then you subtract the amount owing from the value of the vehicle.

Once you’ve rounded up all these figures, you add them together and you’ll have the estimated value of the estate.

Calculate the Probate Tax

In Nova Scotia, one of the purposes of disclosing the value of the estate is to calculate the estimated amount of Probate Tax owing on the estate. The estimated Probate Tax must be paid into the court before they will release the paperwork confirming that you have been granted administration of the estate.

Probate Tax is calculated as follows.

Estates not exceeding $10,000 - $85.60

Estates exceeding $10,000 to $25,000 - $215.20

Estates  exceeding $25,000 to $50,000 - $358.15

Estates exceeding $50,000 to $100,000 - $1,002.65

Estates exceeding $100,000 - $1,002.65 + $16.95 for every $1,000 or portion thereof in excess of $100,000

If you would like some help understanding how to work out the Probate Tax owing on the estate you are handling, check out our blog: How is Probate Tax Calculated in Nova Scotia?

If you have more questions about the Probate Process in Nova Scotia or how to Administer an Estate if you the executor or personal representative, check out our other blogs on the topic:

DO I NEED TO PROBATE MY ESTATE?

A REAL-LIFE HORROR STORY – HE DIED WITHOUT A WILL

WHO GETS IT WHEN YOUR GONE? DEALING WITH YOUR HOME IN NOVA SCOTIA WHEN YOU PASS AWAY

WILL THE PUBLIC TRUSTEE IN NOVA SCOTIA HELP ME PROBATE AN ESTATE?

HOW DO I KNOW IF A NOVA SCOTIA ESTATE REQUIRES PROBATE?

WHAT HAPPENS TO MY HOUSE IF I DIE WITHOUT A WILL IN NOVA SCOTIA?

WHAT IS PROBATE IN NOVA SCOTIA?

How is Probate Tax Calculated in Nova Scotia?

By: Dianna M. Rievaj, Founding Lawyer

Have questions for us?:

If you have any questions about Administering an Estate or the Probate process, you can call us at (902) 826-3070 or email us at info@highlanderlaw.ca to set up a meeting with one of our lawyers at our Tantallon law firm. You can also schedule a no commitment Issue Review Consult for $250+HST where you have the opportunity to explain your situation to a lawyer and get basic advice before deciding whether or not you'd like to retain us.

The information and materials on this blog are provided for general informational purposes only and are not intended to be legal advice. Nothing contained on this blog is legal advice or constitutes a legal opinion. While it is our goal to provide information which is current, legislative changes and court decisions, among other matters, may result in some information no longer being current or accurate. You should consult a lawyer before relying on any information. The views expressed herein by individual contributing lawyers posting entries to the blog are solely those of the authors and should not necessarily be attributed to or considered representative of the firm of Highlander Law Group Lawyers