The Executor's Guide

The guides

• What to Do When Someone Dies in Canada — The first hours, the first week, and the first months — in the order they actually happen, with the Muslim burial timeline built in.
• Executor of an Estate: What the Job Actually Involves — The full scope of an estate trustee’s role in Canada, the personal liability that comes with it, and the three failures that catch people out.
• Probate in Canada: What It Is, What It Costs, How Long It Takes — The court process that confirms a will and authorises an executor — plus the fee in every province, and why so many estates try to avoid it.
• CRA Clearance Certificate: Why Executors Wait Before Distributing — What the certificate is, why distributing without one makes you personally liable, and how to keep an estate moving while you wait.
• Power of Attorney in Canada: What It Covers and When It Ends — The document that lets someone manage your affairs while you are alive — how it differs from a will, and the single most common mistake families make with it.
• How to Find Out if Someone Had a Will — Where wills are actually kept in Canada, what a diligent search means, and what happens when the original cannot be found.
• How Long Does It Take to Settle an Estate in Canada? — A realistic timeline from death to final distribution, what causes the delays, and how to keep beneficiaries informed without promising dates you cannot control.
• Estate Planning in Canada: What Actually Needs Doing — The documents, the designations and the ownership decisions — and why the will is only about half of it.

A printable checklist

If you are in the first days after a death and want something on paper, the Janazah & Estate Checklist covers the same ground in one page. Free to print, copy and share — masjids and funeral coordinators are welcome to hand it out.