Online Probate in BC: What Can Be Done Without Coming In

If you have been named executor of a BC estate but live in another city, province or country, you may be wondering whether you need to travel to Vancouver to deal with probate.

Often you do not. The application itself goes to a BC probate registry, but most of the steps before it can be handled by video, email and courier. This guide explains what can be done remotely, what still needs originals, and how the process runs when you are not here.

What “online probate” means in BC

Probate is an application to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for a grant that confirms the executor’s authority to deal with the estate. The application is made under Part 25 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules and goes to a probate registry, which reviews the documents before the grant issues. Our guide to applying for probate in BC walks through each stage.

When people search for online probate, they usually mean something simpler: can this be done without coming in? In BC, much of it can. A lawyer can meet you by video, take your instructions, prepare the application and file it with the probate registry for you. Your part is mostly reviewing drafts, swearing affidavits and getting the original will to your lawyer.

Steps you can handle from where you live

• Meetings and instructions. You can meet your lawyer by video to go through the will, the family details and the assets, and send statements and other records by email or courier.
• Affidavits sworn by video. The application includes affidavits from the executor. Under Rule 22-2(6.1) of the Supreme Court Civil Rules, an affidavit can be sworn before a lawyer by video conference, provided its last numbered paragraph says the person swearing it was not physically present but appeared by video.
• The wills search. Every application needs two copies of a Vital Statistics certificate showing the result of a search for a wills notice (Rule 25-3(2)(d)). Your lawyer can apply for the search through the Province’s online eWills service, so no one has to visit a Service BC office. The Province says results can take up to 20 business days, plus mailing time. Our article on the wills registry search explains how it works.
• Electronic wills. A will in electronic form can be valid in BC (Wills, Estates and Succession Act s 37(3)–(4)). For probate, the registry receives the signed will in its original electronic form or as a PDF, with extra affidavit evidence in some cases (Rule 25-3(3)(a.1)). See our guide to probating an electronic will.

If you are outside BC

Video swearing has a limit for executors who live elsewhere. The Law Society of BC’s guidance says a lawyer should not use the video process for someone who is not physically in BC unless the lawyer is satisfied there is no other practical way to have the document sworn under the procedures where that person lives. In practice, that often means swearing your affidavits before a notary or other official where you are and couriering them back. Our article on signing BC legal documents from outside Canada covers the options, and our guide to video commissioning explains what can be done by video in BC.

What still needs paper and originals

Remote does not mean paperless. A few things still have to travel:

• The original will. If the will was signed on paper, the registry needs the originally signed version, plus copies (Rule 25-3(3)(a)). If it was signed in counterparts with witnesses joining by video, the registry needs the original of each signed counterpart. Courier the original to your lawyer early and keep a copy. If it cannot be found, see our article on a lost original will.
• Documents sworn abroad. If you swear before an official where you live, the signed documents need to come back to your lawyer, which adds courier time.
• Banks and land. After the grant issues, financial institutions and the land title system may ask for originals, court-certified copies of the grant or their own identity checks, which take longer to arrange from a distance.

How a remote application usually runs

• First meeting. A video call to review the will, the assets and the family, and to confirm the estate needs probate at all. Our article on whether you need probate in BC explains when it can be avoided.
• Search and asset details. Your lawyer orders the wills search while you gather statements and valuations for the asset list.
• Notice to beneficiaries. Before applying, the executor delivers a notice of the proposed application, with a copy of the will, to the people the rules list, including beneficiaries and anyone who would have inherited if there were no will. The notice tells them a grant may issue without further notice at least 21 days after it is delivered.
• Affidavits. You swear them by video if you are in BC. If you are not, it is usually before a local official, as explained above.
• Filing. Your lawyer files the application with the probate registry and deals with any questions the registry raises.
• After the grant. Collecting assets, paying debts, tax filings and distribution can largely be coordinated by video and email too, subject to timing rules such as the 210-day rule.

When remote probate takes more planning

Handling probate from a distance works well when the will is clear, the assets are in BC and the family agrees. It takes more planning if the executor lives outside Canada, because the estate’s tax residence can become an issue, or if co-executors are in different places. Our guide to naming an executor who lives outside BC covers the tax and practical points, and whether you need a lawyer for probate explains when legal help is most useful.

Executor living elsewhere? Start the probate application without travelling

Our probate and estate lawyers can meet you by video, order the wills search, prepare the notices and affidavits, arrange for affidavits to be sworn by video where the rules allow, and file the application with the probate registry for you.

Call 604-259-2844 or send us a message to arrange a consultation by video or at our Vancouver office.