Probate is Yukon’s process for confirming a will and authorising someone to act. It does not decide who inherits — it authorises the person who gathers and distributes.
Cost and process in Yukon
| Item | Yukon |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Wills Act and Estate Administration Act |
| Court | Supreme Court of Yukon |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | A low flat fee structure. |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | $75,000, set by section 82(3)-(4) of the Estate Administration Act and carrying no interest (unlike the Northwest Territories and Nunavut). Where an intestate leaves a spouse and issue and the estate does not exceed $75,000, the whole estate goes to the spouse; above that, the spouse takes the first $75,000 and then shares the residue with the issue (reported as one-half with one child, one-third with more than one child — the same residue split used in Ontario and several other provinces). Where there is a spouse and no issue, the spouse takes the whole estate. Section 92 matters more than the figure for most Yukon estates: on top of the $75,000 and the fraction, the spouse takes the household furnishings outright and a life estate in the family home. Section 94 bars a spouse separated for a year. The preferential share is payable only to a legally married spouse — a religious-only marriage is not a spouse here at all, and a common-law partner of twelve months has only a discretionary court application under s. 74, which must be brought within six months of the grant and bars a Dependants Relief Act claim. |
| Will registry | No general public will registry currently operates. The 2020 Wills Act amendment (in force 1 May 2021) gave the government a standalone power to “implement a registry that facilitates the availability of information respecting a will executed in Yukon” — but only “if the regulations permit”, and no such regulation has ever been made: “Wills” does not appear in Yukon’s consolidated index of regulations, and Yukon’s own wills-and-estates guidance does not mention a registry. The same amendment separately brought the international-wills Convention into force on 6 January 2022 — but that creates no register, only a will form. |
| Claims against the estate | Dependants Relief Act claims. 'Dependant' means: the surviving spouse (defined to include a common-law spouse — 12 months' cohabitation, or a marriage not legally valid but entered in good faith); a child under 16; a child 16 or over who cannot earn a livelihood because of mental or physical disability; and a grandparent, parent, or descendant who was actually financially dependent on the deceased for the 3 years before death. Like Prince Edward Island (and unlike Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador), an independent, able-bodied adult child has NO claim under this Act. |
What the executor has to do
- Locate the original will and confirm it is the latest one.
- Apply to the court for authority to act.
- Identify and secure the assets; notify institutions.
- Pay funeral expenses, debts and taxes — including the deemed disposition on death.
- Obtain a CRA clearance certificate before distributing.
- Distribute, and account to the beneficiaries.
An executor who distributes before debts and taxes are settled, or who fails to search properly for a will, can be held personally responsible. This is the reason a documented search matters.
The Islamic order of payment
Classical fiqh sets the same sequence Canadian administration follows in practice: funeral expenses first, then debts, then the wasiyyah up to one third, then the faraid shares. An unpaid mahr ranks as a debt of the estate, ahead of any bequest or inheritance.
Common questions
How long does probate take?
Commonly several months to over a year, depending on the court's backlog, the complexity of the estate, and how quickly a CRA clearance certificate is issued.
Can the funeral be paid before probate?
Usually yes. Most financial institutions will release funds from the deceased's account for funeral expenses specifically, which matters given how quickly a janazah takes place.
Does every estate need probate?
No. Estates consisting only of jointly held property and assets with named beneficiaries may avoid it entirely. That is avoidance of PROBATE; whether those assets also fall outside the faraid shares is disputed among contemporary scholars, and several fatwa bodies say it does not.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Estate Administration Act, RSY 2002, c. 77, ss. 82 and 92 — Yukon Legislation
- Probate fees by province / territory — TaxTips.ca
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11–12, 4:176 — Quran.com
- Book of Wills (Wasaya) — Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunnah.com
- Religion by census metropolitan area, 2021 Census — Statistics Canada
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Dependants relief claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Holograph handwritten will ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Separated common law partner dependant support claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law