How long does probate take in Ontario?

Two probate clocks, and only one of them is the court’s

The number executors hear first is 15 business days. That figure is real, but it measures one narrow thing: how long Ontario courts take to process a standard application that arrives complete and correct. Everything else sits outside that clock. Gathering the death certificate and original will, valuing every asset including the home at fair market value, drafting and serving the application, waiting out a requisition if the court finds a defect, and plain regional backlog. Add those and the wait from filing to certificate commonly lands between 2 and 6 months. Durham estates file with the Superior Court of Justice based on where the deceased lived; Toronto-region filings have historically run to the longer end.

Full settlement is longer still. From death through probate, the sale, the terminal tax return, and distribution to beneficiaries, a typical Ontario estate takes 8 to 12 months to wind up. Courts informally benchmark an estate trustee against the executor’s year.

What the probate waiting months cost an estate

While the application sits in a queue, the home does not pause. Standard homeowner insurance can be voided once a home is vacant beyond roughly 30 consecutive days, so a vacancy permit or vacant home policy is usually needed at a higher premium. Utilities stay on, the lawn gets cut, the pipes need heat or winterizing, property tax accrues. And if the home appreciates while it sits, that post-death gain is generally taxable to the estate when it sells. The wait is not free.

Using the probate wait instead of losing it

Here is the honest version of the opportunity, without overpromising: the months of probate are exactly enough time to get the home ready to sell properly. We plan and scope the renovation during the probate wait, and where your lawyer confirms it is appropriate, approved work can begin so you list the day probate clears. Scoping, design decisions, quotes, and scheduling take weeks on any renovation; doing that work during the wait means the estate is not adding a planning delay on top of a court delay. A sale can also be signed conditionally during the wait with a probate clause, so closing only happens once the certificate issues.

What that looks like in practice: the three-way comparison of selling as-is, renovating first, or taking a cash offer, and a projection of what the home could sell for both ways.