Brown Bag Lunch – February 16, 2021

The second OBA Trusts and Estates Law Section’s Brown Bag Lunch of 2021 was held on February 16, 2021.

BBLers were eager to discuss the Small Estates Process, which will come into effect on April 1, 2021. The limit for a small estate for the purposes of the small estate certificate process will be set at $150,000.00. One BBL’er who was involved in developing the new Rules and forms shared some insight into the new process, and some helpful tips. For instance, a full copy of the Will must be provided to all persons entitled to share in the estate (not just an excerpt), and the application for a small estate certificate cannot be filed until 30 days have passed since the day that all persons entitled to share in the estate have been served. This is different from the regular procedure where there are no time restrictions between service and filing. Another interesting change is that the application for a small estate certificate does not require that applicants indicate their occupation or the last occupation of the deceased. Participants were reminded that the small estates process is an optional procedure, and that applicants can continue to proceed via the general process, regardless of the size of the estate in question. Estates that qualify as “small”, but still exceed $50,000.00 will continue to be subject to estate administration tax.