Manitoba Law Reform Consultation Report on Small Estates

The Manitoba Law Reform Commission has published a Consultation Report on Updating the Administration of Small Estates as part of its Access to Justice initiative entitled "Access to Courts and Court Processes".

"In Manitoba, The Court of Queen’s Bench Surrogate Practice Act ('The Surrogate Practice Act') governs the administration of estates, whether there is a will or not. The rules in place serve to protect estates from fraud and mismanagement. The ordinary process for obtaining probate carries with it legal and administrative costs as well as time and administrative burdens. But what happens in the case of relatively small estates, where the costs associated with administering the estate may be disproportionately high compared to the value of the estate? In these cases, the estate available for distribution may be depleted. Alternatively, the personal representative for the estate may choose not to administer the estate at all"

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"This Consultation Report considers possible amendments to improve the legislation and procedure related to the summary administration of small estates under The Surrogate Practice Act. The primary area addressed is whether the monetary jurisdiction should be increased."

The report looks at practices in a number of other Canadian jurisdictions, including Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.

The comment period on this Consultation Report is open until October 30, 2017.