After a death in Québec: the steps of the first few weeks

The first few days are like nothing else. You sleep badly, you answer the phone, you receive visitors, and somewhere between two visits, someone asks whether the health insurance card has been returned.

Nobody has a list. That is the particular difficulty of this period: the steps are many, several have a logical order, a few have a deadline that is already running, and none of them will be brought to your attention.

This guide follows the sequence published by the Government of Québec for the loved ones of a deceased person. It replaces neither a notary nor the staff of the funeral services business, who often remain the best guide through the first few days.

First, two situations that change the whole order

Before any other step, the Government of Québec asks you to check whether either of these two situations applies.

A death or a transport of the body outside Québec. If the person died in Canada but outside Québec, you must contact a funeral services business in Québec. If they died outside Canada, you must contact the Canadian office in the country where the body is located. And to have the body of a person who died in Québec transported outside the province, you must request authorization from a coroner.

A death requiring the coroner's involvement. The coroner intervenes in particular "in the case of a violent or obscure death or one occurring as a result of negligence" and where the cause of death is unknown. It is generally a physician or a peace officer who calls them in, but a relative who has grounds to believe such a death has escaped the coroner's attention can report it to them.

The funeral home form that saves you ten phone calls

This is the most productive step of the first few days, and many families do not know it exists.

In the presence of the representative of the funeral services business, you sign the declaration of death and you fill out the Demande de transmission simplifiée de renseignements relatifs au décès (request for the simplified transmission of death-related information). That form, the Government of Québec writes, "authorizes the Directeur de l'état civil to notify several departments and agencies of the death in a single step." The Directeur de l'état civil is Québec's registrar of civil status.

The organizations notified automatically are the following.

Notified automatically	For what
Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec	Health insurance and the public prescription drug insurance plan
Retraite Québec	Québec Pension Plan and the Family Allowance
Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale	Social assistance and social solidarity
Revenu Québec	Benefits granted under the Taxation Act
Canada Revenue Agency	Federal tax file
Service Canada	Update to the Social Insurance Register

The Directeur de l'état civil can also notify, where applicable, Retraite Québec for public sector pension plans, the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), Québec's labour standards and occupational health and safety board, the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), the province's public auto insurer, the Régie du bâtiment, the Régime québécois d'assurance parentale (the Québec parental insurance plan) and a few others.

Two important caveats. The government specifies that "even if you do not have to send the death certificate to the departments and agencies notified by the Directeur de l'état civil, you could still have to contact them to complete certain formalities." And if the form was not filled out at the funeral home, you will have to notify each organization yourself.

At the same time, fill out the application for a death certificate or a copy of the act of death and send it to the Directeur de l'état civil. The government is clear about their use: "These documents are necessary for the settlement of the succession." The representative of the funeral services business can make the application online for you.

What the form does not cover

Three steps remain entirely up to you.

Aide financière aux études. Where a person who holds a loan from Aide financière aux études, Québec's student financial assistance program, dies, the succession must report the death, provide proof of death and inform the financial institution where applicable. Our guide to debts at death explains what the law then provides for that loan.

The Curateur public. If there was a protection mandate, the mandataries must produce a final accounting and give it to the heirs. If there was a tutorship, whether of a minor or of an adult, the tutor must produce a final account of management and give it to the liquidator or to the heirs. The Curateur public, Québec's public curator, must be notified in both cases.

Powers of attorney. They come to an end. The government recommends writing on any power of attorney that it is no longer valid, notifying the notary in the case of a notarial power of attorney, and warning the financial institutions and the people with whom the mandatary was able to act.

To that are added two practical steps: notifying the landlord if the person was a tenant, and returning unused or expired medication to the pharmacy. If there was a joint bank account, the government indicates that "the financial institution must give the survivor the share of the account balance that belongs to them."

Searching for the will: an obligation, not an option

The Government of Québec leaves no ambiguity: "You are required by law to carry out will searches with the Chambre des notaires du Québec and the Barreau du Québec."

Both registers, not just one. A notarial will more recent than the one found in a drawer changes everything, and it is found nowhere else.

What comes next depends on the form of the will. "A holograph will and a will made in the presence of witnesses must be probated. Probate — in Québec, vérification — is carried out either by a notary or by the Superior Court." A notarial will, for its part, does not have to be probated. Our guide to the three forms of will explains what that step involves in time and in costs.

And if there is no will? "The succession is settled according to the provisions of the Civil Code of Québec." Our guide to succession without a will sets out the order of legal devolution in detail, including what the coming into force of the parental union on June 30, 2025 changed.

The six months already running

The most important deadline in this whole text began on the day of the death.

The Government of Québec states it this way: "As a successor, you have 6 months to accept or renounce the succession, counting from the day it opens (generally the date of death)."

Its advice is specific: before deciding, it is better to wait for the notice of closure of the inventory that the liquidator — Québec's term for what the rest of Canada calls an executor — publishes in the Registre des droits personnels et réels mobiliers (the register of personal and movable real rights), because "consulting the inventory could allow you to discover the existence of certain unknown property or creditors."

And the warning that accompanies that deadline deserves to be read twice: "Certain acts omitted or performed, such as using property of the succession as if it were your own personal property, entail acceptance of the succession, even if you have not given your formal agreement." Our guides to debts at death and to the liquidator's role set out which acts are safe and which are not.

The amounts to claim, and from whom

The Government of Québec lists the situations that can give rise to a benefit or an indemnity: having paid the funeral costs, having contributed to the enrichment of a deceased spouse, a spouse who contributed to a pension plan, student financial assistance to which the deceased contributed, life insurance, the family allowance, a death following a road accident, a hunting or trapping accident, a work-related accident or illness, or a criminal offence or an act of good citizenship.

Three of them come up most often.

Retraite Québec. The Québec Pension Plan (QPP) death benefit has a maximum amount of $2,500 and is not paid automatically: it must be applied for. Retraite Québec specifies that "this amount is taxable. It must be reported in the income of the succession, regardless of whom the cheque was made out to." Recall that Québec does not take part in the Canada Pension Plan. Our guides set out the death benefit, the surviving spouse's pension and the orphan's pension in detail.

The insurer. The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Québec's financial sector regulator, indicates that "the insurer must pay the insurance amount within 30 days following receipt of the supporting documents it requests." Those documents may be proof of the insured's death, proof of their age and proof that the person making the claim is entitled to it. The countdown therefore starts when the complete file is received, not at the phone call.

The public compensation plans. Our guides to SAAQ benefits and to CNESST benefits set out the conditions specific to a death occurring on the road or at work. If the means are not there for the funeral, our guide to last resort assistance describes the applicable program.

What comes next

The following weeks belong to the liquidator: inventory, notice of closure, payment of the debts, tax returns, tax certificates, then partition. That path has its own deadlines, and it is considerably longer than most families anticipate. Our guides to the time and costs of settling an estate and to tax at death cover that second phase.

Frequently asked questions

How many copies of the act of death should you request?

More than one. Every institution that requires proof keeps it, and making another request to the Directeur de l'état civil in the middle of the settlement costs time. The representative of the funeral services business will be able to advise you according to the file.

Do you need a notary in the first few days?

Not necessarily for the steps described here. As soon as the succession includes a property, a business, significant debts, a minor child or a blended family, the support of a notary quickly pays for itself — and it is also the notary who carries out the probate of a holograph will or of a will made in the presence of witnesses.

Does life insurance money wait for the succession?

No, where a beneficiary is named. Article 2455 of the Civil Code of Québec provides that the sum insured payable to a beneficiary does not form part of the succession of the insured. It is often the first money available to the family. Our guide to naming a beneficiary explains why the wording of that designation changes everything.

What if you do not know which contracts the person held?

Start with their papers, their bank statements and their pre-authorized debits, then ask their employer or former employer about a group plan. Our guide to group life insurance is a reminder that employment-related coverage sometimes exists without the family knowing.

Does this text replace the official instructions?

No. It summarizes the sequence published by the Government of Québec at the time of writing. The official pages are updated; consult them, and rely on the funeral services business and on a notary for your own situation.

Sources

• Gouvernement du Québec, "Démarches à faire par les proches du défunt," updated July 2, 2026: https://www.quebec.ca/famille-et-soutien-aux-personnes/deces/que-faire/aide-memoire/proches (accessed August 11, 2026)
• Gouvernement du Québec, "Paiement des dettes d'une succession": https://www.quebec.ca/justice-et-etat-civil/testament-succession/succession/reglement-succession/paiement-dettes (accessed August 11, 2026)
• Retraite Québec, "La prestation de décès": https://www.retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/citoyens/deces/rentes-et-prestations-conjoints-enfants-et-heritiers/prestation-deces (accessed August 11, 2026)
• Autorité des marchés financiers, "8 questions et réponses pour démystifier l'assurance vie": https://lautorite.qc.ca/grand-public/assurance/assurance-vie/8-questions-et-reponses-pour-demystifier-lassurance-vie (accessed August 11, 2026)
• Civil Code of Québec, article 2455, consolidated text, LégisQuébec: https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/document/lc/CCQ-1991 (accessed August 11, 2026)

This text presents general information about steps published by the Government of Québec. It is neither legal advice nor insurance advice. For your own situation, consult a notary.