Outstanding Bills

How to add outstanding bills

Use this section to list any outstanding bills. For each bill, denote at least the following:

• The current value of the debt
• Separate or joint ownership (and, if applicable, the percentage of the liability owned)
• Bill type (e.g. credit card, condo fees, etc.)
• Name of creditor

Estate accounting for outstanding bills

If you've already set up the Estate Account, you can use it to make the payments. Otherwise, there is a good chance that the deceased's accounts have been frozen (especially in Quebec, where even joint accounts will be frozen), in which case the bills may have to be paid by the executor and reimbursed later by the estate.

With appropriate documentation, the deceased's bank may unfreeze the account for certain bill payments, so it's worth checking with them before incurring out-of-pocket costs.

This is also a good opportunity to get in touch with the providers and cancel most of the deceased's accounts, such as:

• Credit cards
• Cell and home phones
• Internet 
• TV / cable / streaming subscriptions 
• Other subscriptions (newspapers, magazines, etc.)

Make sure to look into other less frequent payments such as:

• Municipal tax
• School tax
• Medical
• Pharmacy
• Nursing or home care

Lastly, because it is the estate's responsibility to continue to administer the deceased's assets, it is recommended to maintain certain services, such as:

• Auto insurance
• Home insurance
• Condo fees
• Rent / lease
• Water and power
• Security system

Note, it is the executor's responsibility to ensure that the outstanding balance is a proper estate liability. If the deceased was paying for an adult child's bill or sharing a credit card account with a family member, those expenditures should not be considered estate liabilities.