How to Apply for Probate in Nova Scotia

The short answer

Pick the probate checklist, complete Form 8, book an appointment at Probate Court, and bring the death certificate and the probate tax payment with you. Probate in Nova Scotia is the court process that proves a will by law, registers it in the court, and endorses the authority of the personal representative to administer the estate. The personal representative applies to the Court of Probate for Nova Scotia, and if the court is satisfied it issues a grant of probate. This guide covers process only. It is not legal advice, and it gives no advice about whether a particular estate needs a grant.

The procedure is governed by the Probate Act, S.N.S. 2000, c. 31 and by the Probate Court Practice, Procedure and Forms Regulations, N.S. Reg. 119/2001, amended to O.I.C. 2026-138, effective April 14, 2026. The forms are published under those regulations, and you should use the latest version of each form. The Court of Probate is a division of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and each judge of the Supreme Court is a judge of every court of probate.

When a grant is needed, and when it is not

Not every estate needs probate. A grant is always required to sell or transfer land held in the name of the deceased person, unless they owned it as a joint tenant. A grant may also be required in other circumstances: when financial organizations hold assets in the name of the deceased, when someone dies without a will, or when there is a dispute concerning the will.

A grant of probate acts as the legal proof that the person named as personal representative may deal with the assets of the deceased: to collect the money, pay any debts, and distribute what is left to those entitled to it. If you are not sure whether a grant is needed, contact your local Probate Court. Court staff may be able to assist you, but they cannot fill in the forms for you or give you legal advice.

Step 1: Pick the right checklist and gather the forms

The Court Services Division publishes a guide, Dealing with an Estate at Probate Court, for applicants acting without a lawyer, and three procedural checklists: probate, administration, and administration with the will annexed. Read the guide first, then pick the checklist that matches the estate. Ask court staff to help you select the correct checklist if you have difficulty deciding which one applies.

Pick the application form that matches the estate:

• Form 8 — Application for a Grant of Probate, where there is a will naming you as executor. Form 8A is the corporate applicant version.
• Form 10 — Application for a Grant of Administration with the Will Annexed, where there is a will but no executor is named, or the executors are unable or unwilling to apply.
• Form 9 — Application for a Grant of Administration, where there is no will.

Make a copy of the will and any codicils. If Form 2, the affidavit of execution of the will or codicil, has not been completed, contact one of the two witnesses to the will and have them sign Form 2 with the original will attached as Exhibit A. For a holograph will, use Form 2A instead. If the will is not in English, an affidavit proving the translation is Form 3.

Step 2: Work out the probate tax and any security

The probate tax is called a tax in Nova Scotia, and in other provinces it may be called probate fees. The cost depends on the value of the assets held in the name of the deceased person. Work out the tax payable before you submit the application, and be prepared to pay it when the application is filed at the court. The tax table in Step 4 gives the rates.

Security is a bond that provides a financial commitment for the performance of the duties of the personal representative. The amount of security required is 1.5 times the value of the estate. There are three types: a bond from a guarantee company, a personal bond, and an affidavit of justification. A personal bond needs only one person to act as surety if the estate value is $100,000 or less; otherwise, two people are needed as sureties. Personal sureties must be residents of Nova Scotia.

There is no need to post security in some cases. Unless the administrator of an intestate estate is its sole beneficiary, the administrator will be required to post security. If the deceased left a will and the executor lives outside Nova Scotia, the executor may need to post security before receiving a grant of probate, unless the will is dated before October 1, 2001, it contains a waiver of the need to post security, or there is a co-executor who lives in Nova Scotia. If all the beneficiaries are over the age of 19 and mentally competent, and they have agreed to waive the requirement to post security, the executor who lives outside Nova Scotia may file their agreement with the court instead of posting security. Trust companies and the Public Trustee are not required to give security.

Step 3: Book an appointment at Probate Court

Contact the Probate Court and arrange for an appointment. Court staff will review your documents and make any necessary arrangements for having the documents signed. Bring the payment of probate tax with you, and make cheques payable to the Registrar of Probate.

An estate is probated at the probate court in the district where the deceased person resided during the last two or more years of life. You will find a probate court in 11 locations in Nova Scotia, one in each justice centre area. If the deceased person did not live in one district for 24 consecutive months before death, the Registrar of Probate will help you decide which probate court is the appropriate one.

Bring the following to the appointment:

• The affidavit of execution of the will or codicil, Form 2, with the original will and any codicils attached as Exhibit A.
• The completed application for a grant of probate, Form 8.
• The death certificate, and any other required supporting documents.
• Security, if required, in Form 18 or Form 19.
• Land Registration Form 44 or Form 24, if required. If the real property is registered in the land registration system, you will need Form 24; if it is not yet registered, you will need Form 44.
• Renunciations, where required, in Form 12 for probate, Form 13 for administration, or Form 14 for administration with the will annexed.
• Payment for the applicable probate tax, and any fees.

Step 4: File at the appointment and pay the tax

Court staff will review your application to ensure the documents are ready for a grant. The court will issue a grant and send it to you. For the tax payment, you will receive an original grant, a certified copy of the grant, a certified copy of the will if applicable, and a certificate of status of the grant. The court will send a certified copy of the grant and the will to the Land Registration Office, if land is being transferred. For additional certified copies of the grant, you will be asked to pay a fee.

The probate tax under section 87(2) of the Probate Act is:

• Estates not exceeding $10,000: $85.60.
• Estates exceeding $10,000 but not exceeding $25,000: $215.20.
• Estates exceeding $25,000 but not exceeding $50,000: $358.15.
• Estates exceeding $50,000 but not exceeding $100,000: $1,002.65.
• Estates exceeding $100,000: $1,002.65 plus $16.95 for every $1,000 or fraction of $1,000 in excess of $100,000.

Worked example: for a $200,000 estate, the tax is $1,002.65 plus $16.95 for each of the 100 thousands above $100,000, which is $1,695, for a total of $2,697.65. Final fees are adjusted after the inventory is filed, which can lead to extra fees or refunds.

Step 5: Serve notice, advertise, and file the inventory

After the grant is issued, you must prepare and serve a notice of the grant on each person entitled to share in the distribution of the estate. There are four different types of notice: Form 24 for residuary beneficiaries, Form 25 for non-residuary beneficiaries, Form 26 for heirs on an intestacy, and Form 27 for persons who may have statutory rights. The notice of grant must be served within 30 days after the grant was issued by the court, by registered mail, personal service, or service on a lawyer authorized to accept service. File Form 28, the affidavit of service of the notice of grant, within 60 days after the grant was issued, with copies of the notices attached.

You must also advertise the estate in the Royal Gazette for 6 months. Send the advertisement request for an estate notice to the Royal Gazette Office at 1690 Hollis Street, Halifax, by mail to P.O. Box 7, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 1T0. The fee is $68.15, and the money order or cheque is payable to the Minister of Finance. Keep the issue of the Royal Gazette showing the advertisement once it is sent to you, and file a copy at the Probate Court.

Complete Form 29, the inventory, and file it within 3 months after the grant was issued. The inventory is a detailed list of the real and personal property owned by the deceased at the date of death. Get the Canada Revenue Agency tax clearance certificate and file it at Probate Court. After the estate has been advertised for six months and you are in a position to complete the accounting of the estate, contact the court administration office to pick up the checklist for passing the accounts and the appropriate forms.

If there is no will

If there is no will, the process is called administration. You apply for a grant of administration in Form 9, and the court appoints an administrator using the priority order in the Probate Act: first, the spouse and the children of the deceased who reside in the province; second, those persons who reside in the province and are entitled to share in the distribution of the estate under the Intestate Succession Act, or because they are adult residuary beneficiaries; and third, the Public Trustee. If someone listed below the Public Trustee wants to administer the estate, they must ask the Public Trustee to renounce before they can apply. Where there is no person entitled to a grant of administration, the court may grant administration to any person the court thinks fit.

Unless the administrator of an intestate estate is its sole beneficiary, the administrator will be required to post security of 1.5 times the value of the estate. Where there is no will, the estate is distributed under the Intestate Succession Act. Common-law spouses are not recognized as legal spouses under the Probate Act unless the couple has signed a domestic partnership declaration and registered it with the Office of Vital Statistics of Nova Scotia.

If probate was already granted outside Nova Scotia: the extra-provincial grant

If the deceased lived outside Nova Scotia at death, held property in Nova Scotia, and a grant of probate was already issued where they lived, you do not start a fresh Nova Scotia probate application. You apply for an extra-provincial grant of probate, in Form 11, under section 33(4) of the Probate Act. The application states that the deceased's residence at death was outside Nova Scotia, that they held property in Nova Scotia, that a grant was issued by the court where they lived, that the grant is still in full force and effect, and that the applicant has not been discharged by that court. Where there is a will but the application is for administration with the will annexed, the form is Form 11B.

The probate tax in Step 4 applies to an extra-provincial grant too: the Act's definition of "grant" expressly includes an extra-provincial grant for the purposes of sections 85, 86 and 87, so the tax is calculated on the Nova Scotia assets in the same tiers.

What the opened pages do not state

No processing time from filing to grant is stated in this guide, because none was verified on an opened official page. No small-estate dollar threshold or exemption from probate is stated, because none was verified on an opened official page. No fee for additional certified copies of the grant is stated, because no amount was verified on an opened official page. The court's 2010 guide and its August 2025 checklist give different periods for serving the notice of grant; this guide follows the August 2025 checklist, which states 30 days. Confirm current timelines and any copy fees with the Probate Court before you plan around them.

Related guides:

• How to Write a Will in Nova Scotia — writing a will under Nova Scotia law, so the probate steps above have a will to work from.
• How to Make a Will in Canada — the general Canadian will-making process, with the documents and witnesses a valid will needs.
• How to Start Making a Power of Attorney in Canada — appointing someone to act for you while you are alive, which a will does not cover.
• How to Order a Death Certificate in Canada — ordering the death certificate you will need when you start an estate application.
• How to Become a Funeral Director in Canada — the regulated profession that handles funeral arrangements in Canada.

Sources

• Courts of Nova Scotia, Dealing with an Estate at Probate Court — the Court Services Division guide for applicants acting without a lawyer: when a grant is required, the 11 probate courts, the types of grants, the priority order, the probate tax, security at 1.5 times the estate value, the appointment process, the notice of grant, the 6-month Royal Gazette advertisement, the inventory within 3 months, and closing the estate.
• Courts of Nova Scotia, Checklist — Grant of Probate — prepared by the Court Services Division, August 2025; Forms 2, 8, 18, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, and 29; the notice of grant within 30 days; the affidavit of service within 60 days; the $68.15 Royal Gazette fee; and the Canada Revenue Agency tax clearance certificate.
• Courts of Nova Scotia, Probate Court Forms — the form numbers under the Probate Court Practice, Procedure and Forms Regulations, including Forms 2, 2A, 3, 8, 8A, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 31.
• Nova Scotia, Probate Act, S.N.S. 2000, c. 31 — each Supreme Court judge is a judge of every court of probate in section 4, and the probate tax schedule in section 87(2).
• Nova Scotia, Probate Court Practice, Procedure and Forms Regulations, N.S. Reg. 119/2001 — made under section 106 of the Probate Act, amended to O.I.C. 2026-138, effective April 14, 2026.
• Nova Scotia, Deceased Estate Services — the priority order for administering an estate without a will, the Public Trustee's place in that order, and the domestic partnership declaration rule for common-law spouses.
• Courts of Nova Scotia, Probate Court Practice, Procedure and Forms Regulations, consolidated to April 1, 2024 — Form 11, Application for Extra-Provincial Grant of Probate (section 33(4)), Form 11B for administration with the will annexed, and the extra-provincial grants in Forms 23, 23A and 23B.