Probate Fees in Prince Edward Island

A Charlottetown executor sits at the dining-room table running the probate numbers for his late mother's estate — a bungalow assessed at $295,000, two GICs totalling $48,000, a chequing account with $6,200, and a TFSA worth $51,000 with the executor's sister named as beneficiary. The will leaves the residue to the executor and his sister equally. The probate-fee calculation excludes the TFSA (named beneficiary) and includes everything else — $349,200 subject to probate. The fee under PEI's tiered scale works out to $400 (on the first $100,000) plus $4 per $1,000 on the $249,200 above, totalling roughly $1,397. He writes the cheque from the estate account, files the application at the Supreme Court of PEI in Charlottetown, and the grant of letters of probate issues nine weeks later.

PEI operates one of the simplest and most affordable probate-fee regimes in Canada. The tiered structure sits in the Probate Act regulation and produces a predictable number that executors can calculate from an inventory. The percentage rate above the $100,000 threshold (0.4%) is lower than Ontario's 1.5% Estate Administration Tax and lower than BC's 1.4% above the $50,000 threshold.

This article explains how the PEI probate fee works, what counts toward the fee base, how to estimate it, and how it stacks up against other provinces.

The fee structure #

PEI's probate fee runs in five tiers:^[1]

• $50 for estates valued at $10,000 or less
• $100 for estates valued $10,001 to $25,000
• $200 for estates valued $25,001 to $50,000
• $400 for estates valued $50,001 to $100,000
• $400 + $4 per $1,000 of estate value above $100,000

A few worked examples:

The pattern above $100,000 is $400 + 0.4% of (estate value minus $100,000). For estate sizes above the bottom tiers, the math scales linearly.

What counts as the probate-base estate #

Not every asset is included in the probate-fee base. The general rule is that only assets passing under the will and requiring probate to transfer are included. This excludes:

• Registered accounts with named beneficiaries. TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs, and pensions that pay directly to a named beneficiary bypass probate.
• Life insurance with a named beneficiary. Pays directly outside the will.
• Jointly-held property with right of survivorship. Passes to the survivor by survivorship law, not under the will.
• Trust assets. Pass under the trust deed, not under the will.

What is included:

• Real estate held solely in the deceased's name
• Bank and investment accounts held solely in the deceased's name
• Personal property (vehicles, household goods, collectibles)
• Registered accounts where the designated beneficiary has predeceased
• Business interests held in personal name
• Receivables and other intangible property

A typical PEI estate often has a probate-base smaller than the total household wealth — the family home held jointly with a spouse, the spouse-as-beneficiary RRSP, and the life insurance policy generally all bypass probate. The probate-base might be just the deceased's solo accounts and any vehicles or personal property.

Reducing the probate-fee base — strategies and trade-offs #

PEI's fees are modest enough that aggressive minimization is rarely worth the trade-offs. The standard estate-planning structures still apply:

Beneficiary designations on registered accounts and life insurance. Naming a specific person (rather than "the Estate") keeps the asset out of probate. Generally free and worth doing for most accounts. The companion consideration — designations override the will for those specific accounts; coordinate carefully.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Holding real estate or accounts jointly means the property passes by survivorship rather than under the will. Significantly reduces the probate-fee base for spousal property. The trade-offs — joint ownership during life gives the other person legal rights to the asset, and joint tenancy can produce unintended tax results in non-spousal situations.

Inter vivos trusts. Substantial fee savings for very large estates but the set-up cost (lawyer fees plus ongoing tax filings) often exceeds the savings for PEI estates below $1.5 million.

For a typical PEI household estate ($300,000-$1,500,000), the practical guidance is — use the legitimate exclusions (beneficiary designations on registered accounts, spousal joint tenancy) and accept that the modest probate fee on the rest is rarely worth elaborate avoidance.

How and when the fee is paid #

The probate fee is paid to the Estates Division of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island when the executor files the application for letters of probate. Payment is typically by certified cheque or money order. Personal cheques may not be accepted.

The fee is paid from estate funds. The executor opens an estate bank account early in the administration (typically using the death certificate and a Notice of Application for letters of probate), receives any liquid estate assets, and pays the probate fee from that account. The executor advances the fee personally only in rare circumstances where the estate lacks immediate liquidity.

Probate timeline in PEI #

For a straightforward PEI estate, probate generally runs 6-16 weeks from filing to grant. The timing depends on:

• Whether the will is in order (formal validity, witness affidavits, no challenges)
• Whether the inventory is complete and clearly valued
• Whether there are objections from any party
• Court workload at the Charlottetown estates registry

Once the grant issues, the executor uses it to transfer real estate, close investment accounts, and complete the estate administration. Total estate administration in PEI from death to final distribution typically runs 10-18 months for moderate estates, with complex estates sometimes extending past two years.

How PEI compares with other provinces #

The same gross probate-base estate produces these fees by province (rough comparisons):

PEI is among the cheapest provinces for moderate-to-large estates. For very small estates (under $25,000), Alberta and Yukon flat-fee scales are sometimes lower. For estates over $250,000, PEI's 0.4% marginal rate is hard to beat.

See the probate fee calculator for province-by-province numbers using your specific estate value.

What we focus on at It's Simple Will #

The It's Simple Will questionnaire flags the assets that affect the probate-fee base and explains the trade-offs of each avoidance strategy — joint tenancy, beneficiary designations, trusts — without pushing users toward aggressive minimization for its own sake. The output includes an estimated probate-fee figure for the testator's province so the executor knows what to expect at filing time.

Our pillar on what is probate in Canada covers the broader probate process; the what does an executor do in Canada article walks the executor's overall role. The province-specific how to write a will in PEI article covers the will-validity rules.

Start a will at app.itssimplewill.ca. The questionnaire takes 20-40 minutes and produces both a legally valid PEI will and a separate executor-facing document with the inventory and access details the executor will actually need.