Articles
Do You Actually Need Probate in Manitoba?
Author: Philippe Richer
Your mother passed away in February. She left a will, named you executor, and the estate is about what you expected: the house in River Heights, a chequing account at the credit union, a small GIC, and her car. You bring the will to the bank, expecting them to release the account. Instead, the person across the desk asks whether you have “the grant of probate.” You were sure Manitoba got rid of probate years ago. So why are you being sent to court?
This is one of the most common moments of confusion we see, and it usually lands at the worst possible time, in the first few weeks after losing a parent. Before we get to whether your estate needs probate, it helps to answer the question most people actually have first.
First, what is probate, and why does it exist?
Probate is the court process that confirms a will is valid and confirms that the person named as executor has the legal authority to act. The document the court issues is called a grant of probate. When there is no will, the court issues letters of administration instead. Neither one changes who inherits. They give the executor a court-backed document that says this person is allowed to deal with these assets.
Here is why it matters. A bank, a credit union, or the Land Titles Office does not know you. They are being asked to hand over a house, or someone’s life savings, on the strength of a piece of paper that names you executor. Probate is the court’s confirmation that the will is real and that you are the right person, which is what lets these institutions release the assets without taking on the risk themselves. Without it, the estate can stay frozen, even when the will is right there and the whole family agrees.
What changed in Manitoba, and what didn’t
The short answer is that Manitoba did change its probate rules, but not in the way most people remember. In 2020, Manitoba eliminated probate fees. For years before that, the estate had to pay the court a percentage of its value to get a grant. That charge is gone, and Manitoba is now one of the least expensive places in the country to probate an estate. But eliminating the fee did not eliminate the process. The court still issues grants, and many institutions still ask for one before they will let an executor touch an asset.
So when someone tells you “Manitoba doesn’t have probate anymore,” what they usually mean is “Manitoba doesn’t charge probate fees anymore.” Those are very different statements, and the gap between them is where executors get stuck.
Why one bank says yes and another says no
This is also why the same estate can get two different answers from two different institutions. A grant of probate protects the institution that relies on it. Once a bank has it, the bank is shielded from liability if a dispute comes up later. Without it, the bank is taking your word for everything, with someone else’s money on the line. There is no single law in Manitoba that sets the dollar figure at which a bank must require probate. Each institution sets its own internal policy.
The house and the bank account follow different rules
Here is the distinction that matters most.
Assets in the deceased’s name alone usually need probate. Manitoba’s own Probate Division states it directly: you are only required to probate a will if there are assets in the deceased’s name alone. The clearest example is real estate. If your mother owned her house by herself, the Land Titles Office will require a grant of probate before the title can be transferred or the house can be sold. There is no informal workaround. The house is the trigger.
Smaller bank accounts may not. Banks and credit unions have discretion to release modest accounts without a grant. In practice, Manitoba institutions will often release somewhere between $30,000 and $90,000 without probate, but the exact figure is entirely up to each bank or credit union. Some will release more. Some will demand probate for less. You cannot insist that they waive it.
Some assets skip probate entirely. A few common assets pass outside the estate no matter how large they are. Property held jointly with a right of survivorship passes automatically to the surviving owner. Registered accounts and policies with a named beneficiary, such as an RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, or life insurance, pass directly to the named person.
This is why one person can leave a substantial estate on paper and still avoid probate, while another with a modest estate that happens to include a solely owned house cannot.
How to figure out whether you need probate
Before you assume the worst, or assume you are in the clear, walk through the estate one asset at a time. For each one, ask:
- Whose name is on it? If it is in the deceased’s name alone, it likely needs probate. If it is joint with a right of survivorship, it likely does not.
- Is there a named beneficiary? Registered accounts and insurance with a living named beneficiary usually pass outside the estate.
- Is there real estate owned solely by the deceased? If yes, plan on probate. Land Titles will require it regardless of the home’s value.
- How large are the bank and investment accounts, and where are they held? Call each institution and ask directly what it requires for an estate of this size. The answers will not always match.
- Is there a will at all? If there is no will, the process is different. Someone has to apply to the court to be appointed administrator before anyone can act, which adds a step and some time.
If every asset is jointly held or has a named beneficiary, you may be able to settle the estate without probate at all. If a solely owned house is in the mix, probate is almost certainly part of your path.
What this looked like for one Winnipeg family
A few details, changed and generalized, show how this plays out. A Winnipeg woman came to us after her father died. A friend had told her “Manitoba doesn’t have probate,” so she assumed she could wrap things up in a few weeks. The estate had a house in Transcona, a credit union account of about $22,000, and a TFSA naming her as beneficiary.
The TFSA was simple. It went to her directly, outside the estate. The credit union released the $22,000 account on the strength of the will, because the balance was under its internal threshold. But the house stopped everything. Land Titles would not transfer it without a grant of probate. What she thought was a paperwork errand became a court application.
The good news was that, because Manitoba no longer charges probate fees, the cost was far lower than she feared. The frustration was not the money. It was that no one had told her the house was the part that would require the court, and she had already promised her siblings the estate would be settled by spring.
Three things Manitobans get wrong about probate
“Manitoba got rid of probate.” Manitoba got rid of probate fees. The process still exists, and it is still required for solely owned real estate and for larger institutional accounts.
“My estate is small, so my family won’t need probate.” Maybe. A small account at a single credit union might be released without a grant. But a small estate that includes a house the person owned alone will still need probate, because Land Titles requires it no matter the value.
“If there’s no will, it’s easier, because there’s nothing to probate.” It is usually harder. Without a will, no one automatically has authority to act. A family member has to apply to the court to be appointed administrator first, which adds time and a layer the family did not expect. A will that names an executor is what keeps the process from getting more complicated.
When you are not sure, ask before you start
The mistakes we see most often are not legal misunderstandings. They are timing problems. An executor promises the family a quick resolution, then discovers the house needs a court grant and the timeline doubles. Or someone pays for a full probate application when one phone call to the bank would have released the account without it.
If you have been named an executor and you are not sure which path your estate is on, a short conversation can usually tell you. We will look at what the estate actually holds, tell you plainly whether probate is likely required, and give you a realistic sense of the timeline before you make any promises to anyone. If it turns out you do not need us, we will tell you that too.
If this is on your mind, give us a call or book a short consult. We will keep it straightforward.
If you are planning your own estate rather than settling someone else’s, our companion article, “The $30,000 Threshold: Why Manitoba Banks Demand a Will for ‘Small’ Estates,” explains why even a simple house-and-account estate is worth a proper will.
