NOTICE TO LEGAL PROFESSION
On October 15, 2021, a regulation was filed to amend court rules and forms for estates proceedings in the Superior Court of Justice: O. Reg. 709/21, amending the Rules of Civil Procedure.
The regulation:
- streamlines the Rule 74 probate process;
- aligns the Rule 74 application forms with Succession Law Reform Act amendments to sections 15(a), 16, 17 and 43.1 that were made through the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021, Schedule 9; and
- makes administrative amendments to 15 estate court forms.
These estate court rule and form amendments will come into force on January 1, 2022.
The RCP amendments are expected to reduce costs and simplify the Rule 74 process to apply for probate by:
- introducing one set of requirements for applications with a will and applications without a will (one new rule 74.04 replaces current rules 74.04 and 74.05);
- reducing the number of forms by 35 forms (content of 43 forms consolidated into 8 new forms);
- creating new forms with a simpler format, larger font and fillable text boxes;
- improving the guiding language in the forms; and
- numbering the forms alpha-numerically (e.g. Form 74A instead of Form 74.4), allowing for easier identification of the forms.
The streamlined process also allows for more expeditious processing of applications by court staff.
A summary of the regulation is available on Ontario’s Regulatory Registry at:
Further inquiry can be directed to the following addresses, quoting the reference # attached to your response/ in the subject line:
E-mail: attorneygeneral@ontario.ca
Address: Ministry of the Attorney General
McMurtry-Scott Building
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 2S9