This page is written for the person waiting: a son or daughter, a brother or sister, or a friend named in a will, who has heard little since the funeral. In British Columbia the executor runs the estate, not the beneficiaries, but the executor runs it under rules, and a beneficiary has ways to enforce them. Those rules are provincial; they apply in the same way to an estate in Lavington as to one in Vancouver.
What you are entitled to receive
Before applying for probate, the executor must send a notice of proposed application in Form P1 to each beneficiary named in the will, and to each person who would inherit if there were no will. The notice says which Supreme Court registry the application will be made in, and it must enclose a copy of the will (Supreme Court Civil Rule 25-2). The executor can file the application no earlier than 21 days after delivering the notices.
So if probate is needed and you are a beneficiary, you should see the will before the grant is made. If you think you are entitled to a P1 notice and have not had one, raise it now. Once the grant has issued, some of your options narrow.
The stages you can expect
There is no fixed deadline in BC for finishing an estate, but the work has a recognisable order. The executor collects information about the assets and debts and orders a wills search; delivers the P1 notices; applies for the grant; then, after the grant, collects the assets, pays the debts and taxes, and distributes. Distribution cannot start until 210 days after the grant unless the court orders it or the consents in WESA section 155 are given. No timetable is fixed by law, so the question in any delay is whether the work still to be done explains it. Our article on how long an executor can withhold money deals with the gap between those two.
What an executor may legitimately be waiting for
Before you conclude the executor is stalling, check whether one of these explains the delay:
- Land. Land registered in the deceased’s name cannot be sold or transferred until the executor is registered as owner, and the land title office needs a certified copy of the grant for that (Land Title Act sections 260 and 266).
- Claims. A spouse or child has 180 days from the grant to start a wills variation claim (WESA section 61). A careful executor will not distribute the part of the estate such a claim could affect before that period ends.
- Debts. The executor must look properly for the deceased’s debts as well as the assets (WESA section 122), and pay them before distributing.
- Assets that are hard to value or sell, such as a business, a rental property or an acreage.
If none of these applies and the executor still will not explain, the steps below are open to you.
When nobody applies for probate
Sometimes the named executor simply does nothing: no notice, no application, no reply to letters. A beneficiary does not have to wait indefinitely.
Under Supreme Court Civil Rule 25-11, a person interested in the estate can personally serve each named executor with a citation in Form P32, which requires the executor to apply for a grant of probate. The executor then has 14 days to answer, by showing that a grant has issued, that the application has been filed or the notices delivered, or by giving reasons for refusing. If the executor does not answer, or answers but does not obtain a grant within six months of service (or any longer period the court allows), the executor is deemed to have renounced. The citor, or another person interested in the estate, can then apply for a grant of administration with the will annexed or for other orders.
A citation is a formal step: it must set out the grounds for believing the will exists, and it can prompt a reluctant executor to act.
When the executor has the grant but is not acting
Once there is a grant, the executor has the authority the deceased had over the estate and must administer it, distribute it and account to the beneficiaries (WESA section 142). If letters go unanswered, the next steps are these, in order:
- Ask in writing for a list of assets and debts, what has been done, and a timetable.
- Ask for accounts. A person interested in the estate may apply under Supreme Court Civil Rule 25-13 for an order that the executor’s accounts be passed. On the same application the court can fix and approve the executor’s remuneration, which gives an executor a reason to keep proper records.
- Ask the court to remove the executor. Under WESA section 158, a person with an interest in the estate may apply to remove or pass over an executor. The listed grounds include refusing to act without renouncing, being incapable of managing their own affairs, and conviction for an offence involving dishonesty; the list is not closed, and the question is whether the executor should continue in office. Removal is a serious order and a court will want evidence, not frustration.
Our article on what to do when the executor is not communicating and our page on challenging an executor go further. On when courts have removed executors, see when the court can remove an executor or trustee.
When the problem is the will itself
- If you are the will-maker’s spouse or child and the will does not adequately provide for you, you may have a claim to vary it under WESA section 60. It must be started within 180 days of the grant. See our disinherited child and disinherited spouse pages.
- If you believe the will is not valid, for lack of capacity, undue influence or improper signing, and you are entitled to a P1 notice or claim under another will, a notice of dispute in Form P29 filed before the grant prevents the grant from issuing (Rule 25-10). See undue influence and lack of capacity.
Our Coldstream and Vernon estate pages set out these claims and their deadlines in more detail.
Beneficiaries who are children or cannot manage their own affairs
A beneficiary under 19 does not receive an inheritance directly. Unless the will creates a trust for the child’s share, the executor pays it to the Public Guardian and Trustee to hold until the child turns 19 (WESA section 153). Where a minor or a mentally incapable adult has an interest, the executor must also send the P1 notice to the Public Guardian and Trustee, whose regional office for this part of the province is in Kelowna. If you are a parent of a child beneficiary, ask the executor how the child’s share is to be dealt with.
What to gather before you act
Whatever step you take, it will go further with:
- the P1 notice and copy of the will, if you received them, and the date they arrived
- the grant, if you know one has issued, or the registry and date of the application
- every letter and email to and from the executor, in date order
- anything that shows what the estate holds: the home’s address, accounts you know about, vehicles, investments
- the names and contact details of the other beneficiaries
Where a Lavington estate is dealt with
Lavington is the eastern neighbourhood of the District of Coldstream; the District describes itself as two neighbourhoods, Coldstream in the west and Lavington in the east, and rural land further east lies outside its boundary. For an estate the boundary makes no difference.
- The Supreme Court registry nearest Lavington is in the Vernon Law Courts at 3001 27 Street, where the Provincial Court and the Supreme Court sit (the Province’s courthouse list, updated October 1, 2026). An executor may apply at any Supreme Court registry in BC, so the P1 notice you receive may name another one.
- Service BC in Vernon, at 3201 30 Street, accepts wills notice searches ($20) and new wills notices ($17); both can also be done by mail.
If you are the executor reading this
Falling behind is not the same as acting in bad faith, and the remedies above are meant to get an estate moving. If you have been named executor and feel stuck, the remedy is to get help with the work, or to renounce before you have taken it on. Our probate and estate administration group, led by Veronica Manski, prepares grants of probate and administration and advises executors through the administration.
Choosing an executor who will act
For anyone in Lavington making a will, the lesson from all of this is to choose an executor who is willing and able to do the work, to name an alternate, and to tell both where the original will is kept. A wills notice filed with Vital Statistics records the location. An enduring power of attorney and a representation agreement cover the period before death. Sandy Minh Abley leads our estate planning group, which prepares wills and these documents.
Questions from beneficiaries
The executor will not show me the will. Can I insist?
If probate is needed and you are a beneficiary or would inherit without a will, the P1 notice the executor must send you before applying has to include a copy of the will. If no one is applying, a citation can force the issue.
It has been a year since the grant and nothing has been paid out. Is that allowed?
Nothing can be distributed in the first 210 days without consent or a court order. After that, the question is whether the remaining work justifies the delay. Ask in writing for an explanation and accounts; failing that, the court can order the accounts passed.
Can I be paid my share early?
Not within the 210 days, unless everyone section 155 lists consents or the court orders it. After that, it is the executor’s call, keeping back enough for debts, taxes and claims.
