US estate tax for non-resident aliens — 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: situs rules decide inclusion, deductions are restricted, and the custodian will not release US assets until a transfer certificate issues.
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.
The bank will not release my father's US shares. Why not?
Because a custodian holding US assets generally will not transfer them out of a deceased non-resident's name until a transfer certificate issues. It is not the custodian being difficult; it is the step that tells them they can release the property without taking on the estate's exposure themselves. The certificate comes after the US filing position has been dealt with, which means the sequence runs return first, release second. Families usually discover this when they need the assets for something else. The practical answer is to start the US side early rather than waiting for the custodian to explain what it wants.
How long does the executor have to file the US estate tax return?
Shorter than most Canadian executors expect. The return is due from the executor on a timetable that runs from the date of death — not from probate, not from when the assets are located, and not from when a custodian first refuses to release anything. Because the deadline attaches to the death and the work of identifying US-situs property takes time, the first weeks matter more than they appear to. Check the actual due date for the particular death at the outset, diarise it, and work backwards from it. Do not assume the Canadian timetable you are also working to applies here.
What is a transfer certificate and who has to apply for it?
It is the document that lets a custodian release a deceased non-resident's US assets. The estate's representative applies for it, and it is normally the last step rather than the first: situs is established, the return position is settled, and the certificate then unlocks the property. Treating it as a form to be sent off at the start is the common mistake, because the information behind it is the same information the return needs. Executors who plan for it early keep control of the timetable. Those who meet it as a surprise are usually already answering to beneficiaries about a delay.
Can a non-resident estate deduct debts and expenses like a US estate?
Not on the same footing. Deductions available to a non-resident estate are restricted compared with those a US person's estate takes for granted, so an item that looks deductible on its face may not reduce the taxable amount here at all. That changes the arithmetic materially when the estate is largely one property with borrowing against it. The work is to identify which items are capable of being claimed for this kind of estate before building the return around them, rather than preparing a US-person computation and adjusting it afterwards.
Does the treaty give a non-resident estate a larger exemption?
Where a treaty applies, the relief generally takes the form of a pro-rated credit rather than simply handing a non-resident the exemption a US person receives. The proportion depends on how the estate's US-situs property compares with what it holds overall, which means the claim needs a picture of the whole estate and not only its American part. Families are sometimes reluctant to assemble that. It is nevertheless the price of the relief: the position is claimed on a filed return with the supporting figures behind it, and it is not applied automatically.
I am the executor and I live in Canada. What must I actually do?
Three things, in order. Establish what the deceased owned that is US-situs, because the situs rules decide what is inside the US net at all. Settle the filing position on that property, including any treaty claim, within the timetable running from the date of death. Then obtain the release of the assets from whoever holds them. Running these in a different order is what stalls estates: approaching a custodian before the return position exists produces a request for information you have not gathered. Set the dates down at the outset and work to them.
Do non-residents pay US estate tax?
Yes, on US-situs assets — and with a far smaller exemption than a US citizen or domiciliary receives, which is why exposure can arise at values people assume are safe. US real property, tangible property located there and shares issued by US companies are generally in; foreign-issued securities and certain deposits generally are not. An estate tax treaty, where one exists, can improve the position considerably. See US estate tax for non-resident aliens.
What is the US exit tax and who actually pays it?
How much it is depends on your unrealised gains rather than on a rate, because it is the expatriation regime rather than a fee. A citizen who gives up citizenship, or a long-term permanent resident whose status ends, is tested against three conditions; meet any one and you are a covered expatriate, treated as having sold your worldwide assets the day before you left, with an exclusion for a slice of the resulting net gain — $890,000 for 2025. Deferred compensation, retirement accounts and interests in trusts are handled under separate rules rather than the deemed sale. Form 8854 reports it. See Form 8854.
