Estate administration across borders — where does doing it myself start to cost money?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: each country requires its own grant of authority, its own tax filings and its own clearance before release.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
How long does it take to settle an estate with foreign assets?
Longer than a domestic estate, and the honest answer is that it runs on the slowest jurisdiction's timetable rather than on an average of the two. Each country wants its own grant of authority, its own filings, and often its own clearance before anything is released, and those steps cannot all be run in parallel. What can be predicted is the sequence. Setting out at the start which step depends on which, and where the long waits fall, lets an executor tell the family what to expect and stops the estate losing months to a document that could have been applied for at the beginning.
Why is the bank refusing to release my father's account?
Usually because the authority you hold was issued somewhere else, or because the institution is waiting on a clearance it has not told you about. A grant from one country does not by itself oblige a bank in another to release anything; the second jurisdiction generally wants its own appointment and its own evidence. The way through is to find out precisely what the institution is waiting for, which is often a shorter list than the correspondence suggests, and then to obtain those items in an order that does not leave earlier documents going stale while later ones are prepared.
Do I need probate in both countries?
Where assets sit in two places, each will usually require its own grant of authority, and a grant obtained in one does not automatically carry across. What differs is the effort involved: some jurisdictions will reseal or recognise a foreign grant on evidence, others require a fresh application on local terms. The first task in an estate of this kind is to establish which category each country falls into, because it determines both the timetable and the order of work. That question is answered by the location and type of the assets, not by where the deceased happened to live.
Can any assets be released before the tax filings are finished?
Frequently, yes, and identifying them is one of the more valuable things an executor can do early. Not everything in a family's balance sheet passes through the estate, and not every institution waits on the same clearance. Some holdings pass outside the estate altogether, some are held jointly, and some institutions release on a lower threshold of evidence than others. Going through the asset list and sorting it by what each holder actually requires usually finds something that can be dealt with now, which matters when a family has immediate costs and the main assets are frozen.
Why does the estate need a clearance before assets are released?
Because the authority wants to be satisfied that the filings are settled before property leaves the executor's hands, and an executor who distributes first can end up personally exposed. In a cross-border estate the point is sharper, since each country runs its own version of this step and they do not wait for each other. The practical consequence is that clearance sits at the end of a chain: valuations, then filings, then clearance, then release. Anything that delays the first link moves everything behind it, which is why valuation evidence is gathered before it is needed.
Can I act as executor if I live outside Canada?
It is often possible, but it is worth checking before the will is made rather than after, because a non-resident executor can affect how the estate itself is treated and what a local institution or court will require. Some jurisdictions ask for security, or for a local agent to be appointed, or take longer to issue a grant. None of that is necessarily a reason to choose someone else, but it is a reason to know in advance. Where the appointment is already in place, the workable answer is usually a defined division of duties between the executor and a local representative.
Do I have to file in both countries?
Frequently yes, and the two filings do different jobs. The country where the income arises taxes it at source; the country where you are resident taxes your worldwide income and then gives credit for the tax already paid. Filing only one side is what leaves relief unclaimed — the credit has to be asked for on a return. We prepare both sides so the numbers agree. See dual filing.
Is double taxation illegal?
It is legal. Two countries can each have a valid claim on the same income — one because the income arose there, the other because you live there — and nothing prohibits both from exercising it. What exists instead is relief: tax treaties allocate the claim, and domestic law gives a credit for foreign tax paid. The relief is not automatic, though. It is claimed on a return, and unclaimed relief is simply lost. See how double taxation is relieved.
