Advisor.ca
By Rudy Mezzetta
March 14th, 2022
What executors need to know when a beneficiary can’t be easily identified or found
Executors have a duty to notify beneficiaries of their entitlement under an estate, but what happens if a beneficiary can’t be easily identified or found? An executor who distributes property from an estate without making reasonable efforts to find a missing beneficiary may be held personally liable if the beneficiary turns up later seeking their share.
Matthew Urback, partner with Shibley Righton LLP in Toronto, said there’s “not a ton of guidance” in estate law on how far an executor has to go in order to find a beneficiary.
Instead, executors must rely on case law to determine what a court would deem a reasonable effort to identify or find a missing beneficiary, with the size of the estate or gift under the will being a key consideration, Urback said.
The good news is that “it’s a lot easier now” with the rise of social media and genealogical sites to identify and find beneficiaries, said Monique Charlebois, an estate lawyer in private practice in Oakville, Ont., and a former senior estates counsel with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee in Ontario.
However, conducting a proper search still requires time, effort and expense. “There is a cost to locating people,” said Jandy John, director of estates and trust with Wyth Trust in Toronto.
Urback added: “If you’re trying to prove if someone does or does not exist, there are practical problems with that.”
After an executor has exhausted all reasonable efforts at identifying or locating a missing beneficiary, they may take one of several options. Learn more about how to avoid personal liability…
This article appears in the March 2022 issue of Advisor’s Edge magazine.
